^^    ^' :'  ■'  '■ 


fARLES    FOLLEM    LEJl 


OCTl^  1920 


A 


^H\t^^^ 


BX  9931  .M36  v. 6 
Lee,  Charles  Follen. 
The  birth  from  above 


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i¥I annals  of  JFaitl)  anli  'Dnt^. 

EDITED    BY    REV.  J.   S.   CANTWELL,   D.D. 


A  SERIES  of  short  books  in  exposition  of  prominent  teachings 
of  the  Universalist  Church,  and  the  moral  and  religious 
obligations  of  believers.  They  are  prepared  by  writers  selected  for 
their  ability  to  present  in  brief  compass  an  instructive  and  helpful 
Manual  on  the  subject  undertaken.  The  volumes  will  be  affirmative 
and  constructive  in  statement,  avoiding  controversy,  while  specifically 
unfolding  doctrines. 

The  Manuals  of  Faith  and  Duty  are  issued  at  intervals  of 
three  or  four  months.  •   Uniform  in  size,  style,  and  price. 

I.     THE  FATHERHOOD   OF   GOD. 

By  Rev.  J.  Coleman  Adams,  D.D.,  Chicago. 

II.     JESUS  THE   CHRIST. 

By  Rev.  S.  Crane,  D.D.,  Norwalk,  O. 

III.     REVELATION. 

By  Rev.  I.  M.  Atwood,  D.D.,  President  of  the  Theological 

School,  Canton,  N.  Y. 

IV.     CHRIST  IN  THE  LIFE. 

By  Rev.  Warren  S.  Woodbridge,  Medford,  Mass. 

V.     SALVATION. 

By  Rev.  Orello  Cone,  D.D.,  President  of  Buchtel  College, 
Akron,  O. 

VI.     THE   BIRTH   FROM   ABOVE. 

By  Rev.  Charles  Follen  Lee,  Charlestown,  Mass. 

No.  VII.  of  this  series  will  be  "The  Saviour  of  the  World," 
by  Rev.  C.  E.  Nash,  Akron,  O.  Other  volumes  and  writers  will 
be  announced  hereafter. 

PUBLISHED    BY    THE 

Universalist  Publishing  House, 

BOSTON,     MASS. 
Western   Branch:    69  Dearborn  Street,  Chicago. 


iWanuate  of  JFaitJ)  anti  ©utg^ 

OCT  13  192 


THE 


BIRTH    FROM    ABOVE. 


REV.  CHARLES   FOLLEN   LEE. 


Except  a  man  be  born  again  [or  from  above]  he  cannot 
see  the  kingdom  of  god. 

John  iii.  3. 


BOSTON: 

UNIVERSALIST  PUBLISHING  HOUSE. 

1891. 


Copyright,  1SS9, 
By  the  TJniversalist  Publishing  House. 


SECOND    EDITION. 


t!Snti)cr2ttn  JPrrss  : 
John  Wilson  and  Son,  Cambridge. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTORY. 
Chapter  Page 

I.    Christ    and    Kicodemus  —  a     starti.ixg 

Declaration 7 

II.    The  Jewish  Doctrine  of  the  New  Birth  11 

III.  The  Holy  Spirit 13 

IV.  Man  a  Moral  Being 18 

V.    The  Kingdom  of  God 22 

VI.    The  Necessity  of  the  Birth  from  Above  25 

VII.    "How  can  these  Things  Be?".     .     .     .  29 

VIII.    The  Witness  of  the  Spirit 35 

IX.    Conversion  and  the  Work  of  the  Holy 

Spirit 45 

X.    Illustrative  Examples 53 

XI.    The  Secret  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  .  66 

XII.    Times  of  Spiritual  Awakening  ....  71 

XIII.  Privileges  of  the  Life  from  Above  .     .  82 

XIV.  Growth  in  the  Life  from  Above  ...  94 
Conclusion 99 


©  Source  of  uncreateU  Itflfjt, 
Ef)e  5at{)cr's  promiscO  paraclete ! 
E\)xice  fjolg  fount,  tfjricc  Ijolg  fire, 
em  fjcarts  fajitfj  Ijeabcnlg  lobe  inspire  ; 
Come,  ann  Z\)^  sacreK  unction  bring 
Co  sanctifg  us,  fa)f)ile  h)e  sing. 

plenteous  of  grace,  Uescenti  from  {)igl), 

i^icf)  in  Efjs  seijen=folti  energg ! 

^\)on  strength  of  P?is  ^Imigijtg  JianK, 

Smijose  potoer  Hoes  fjeaben  mti  eartfj  command 

proceetiing  spirit,  our  tiefcnce, 

Mi\]a  Host  tf}e  gift  of  tongues  Utspense, 

^nti  crohju'st  Ei)u  Qiit  h3ttfj  eloquence, 


fHafee  us  eternal  trutf}s  receibe, 
^nti  practise  all  tfjat  toe  beliebe : 
ffiibe  us  ^Ijgself,  tljat  toe  mag  see 
Clje  JFatljer  anti  t!}e  &an  trg  ^fj«. 

From  the  Veni,  Creator  Spiritus,  commonly  ascribed 
to  Gregory  the  Great.  — Dryden's  Paraphrase. 


THE    BIRTH    FROM    ABOVE. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

THE  phrase  "  New  Birth  "  is  one  with  which 
the  reader  is  doubtless  familiar ;  for  the 
subject  to  which  it  relates  is  one  of  the  most 
important  with  which  the  Gospel  deals,  one 
that  from  the  days  of  the  Infant  Church  has 
called  forth  innumerable  treatises  and  sermons, 
and  consequently  one  upon  which  Christian 
conversation  is  very  apt  to  turn.  It  was,  then, 
both  natural  and  desirable  that  this  subject 
should  be  discussed  in  the  series  of  manuals  to 
which  this  little  book  belongs,  and  it  is  the 
writer's  hope  and  praj^er  that  what  follows-  may 
be  found  useful  by  all  who  favor  him  with  their 
attention. 

It  will  no  doubt  be  asked  by  some,  "  Why 
was  not  this  manual  entitled  The  New  Birth  f* 
The  answer  is,  because   The  Birth  from  Above 


6  THE    BIRTH   FROM  ABOVE. 

was  considered  a  more  comprehensive  and  sug- 
gestive title.  We  have  no  quarrel  with  the 
phrase  "  New  Birth,"  but  we  are  satisfied  that 
the  one  we  shall  substitute  for  it  deserves  the 
preference.  In  the  Scriptural  passage  most 
often  cited  in  connection  with  the  sul)ject  of 
which  we  are  to  treat,  it  has  the  sanction  of  the 
original,  as  the  marginal  reading,  both  in  the 
Common  Version  and  in  the  Revision,  bears 
witness ;  and  we  feel  that  upon  due  reflec- 
tion our  choice  of  a  title  will  commend  itself 
to  all.  Thus  the  Greek  word  rendered  again 
in  the  Common  Version  and  anew  in  the  Re- 
vision, may,  with  equal  correctness,  be  rendered 
from  above}  The  reader  will  perceive,  then, 
that  to  say  a  man  must  be  "  born  from  above," 
if  he  would  "  see,"  or  "  enter  into,"  the  King- 
dom of  God,  means,  not  only  that  he  must  be 
horn  again  or  anew^  but  that,  as  our  Lord 
teaches,  his  re-birth  involves  heavenly  agencies, 
or  the  operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

1  John  iii.  3,  7. 


THE   BIRTH   FROM  ABOVE.  7 

I.  —  Christ  and  Nicodemus.  —  a  startling 

DECLARATION. 

Let  us  turn  to  one  of  the  most  impressive  and 
fruitful  chapters  in  the  Evangelical  Narratives, 
—  that  recording  the  conversation  of  our  Lord 
with  Nicodemus  the  Pharisee,  ''  a  ruler  of  the 
Jews,"  that  is  to  say,  a  member  of  the  Sanhe- 
drim, or  High  Council  of  the  Jewish  nation. ^  It 
is  night,  an  hour  that  the  Pharisee  may  have 
chosen,  not  merely  for  prudential  reasons,  but 
also  because  it  offers  the  most  favorable  oppor- 
tunity for  an  interview  with  the  "  Teacher  " 
whom  he  believes  to  have  "  come  from  God." 
The  labors,  heat,  and  turmoil  of  the  day  are 
over,  and  amid  the  ensuing  calm  and  silence, 
so  grateful  to  meditation,  the  bod}'  allows  the 
soul  to  enjoy  its  sovereignty  undisturbed.  So, 
seated  by  the  Master,  a  little  apart,  we  may 
believe,  from  the  disciples,  Nicodemus  opens  a 
conversation  that  is  to  be  handed  down  by  Saint 
John  through  all  succeeding  time.  Never  has 
Nicodemus  been  so  stirred  ;  never  has  the  sol- 
emn night  awakened  within  him  such  searching 
questions ;    never    has    he    been   so    mightily 

1  John  iii.  1-21. 


8  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

wrought  upon  by  another ;  and  bending  his 
inquiring  eye  upon  the  majestic  and  yet  sym- 
pathetic face  before  him,  he  says :  "  Rabbi, 
we  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come  from 
God,  for  no  one  can  do  the  miracles  that  thou 
doest,  except  God  be  with  him." 

Thus  the  memorable  conversation  opens. 
Thus  does  the  Pharisee  broach  a  subject  that 
doubtless  of  late  has  occupied  a  large  share  of 
his  attention,  his  burning  desire  being  to  know 
more  about  this  wonderful  Person  whose  words 
and  works  are  the  theme  upon  which  thousands 
of  tongues  are  dwelling. 

And  what  says  the  Master,  this  "  Teacher 
come  from  God,"  as  Nicodemus  eagerly  awaits 
His  response?  "  Verily,  veril}^  I  say  unto  thee, 
except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the 
Kingdom  of  God."  A  startling  declaration 
truly,  whether  understood  or  not,  to  one  who, 
like  this  Pharisee,  is  seeking  to  learn  from  the 
Great  Teacher's  own  lips  the  secret  of  His 
power  and  the  object  of  His  labors  among  men. 
Nicodemus  feels  that  Jesus  has  divined  his 
thoughts,  and  that  what  has  just  been  said  must 
be  preparatory  to  his  enlightenment  on  the  sub- 
ject that  is  uppermost  in  his  mind  ;  and  yet  he 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  9 

is  puzzled  to  know  what  the  Master  means. 
What  has  one's  being  born  again  to  do  with  the 
question,  "  Who  is  this  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and 
what  is  he  trying  to  do  ?  "  And  then,  too,  how 
can  one  be  born  again?  Surely  he  has  not  been 
asked  to  believe  that  a  physical  re-birth  is  possi- 
ble. He  is  puzzled,  we  repeat,  and  at  the  same 
time  startled.  He  has  enough  confidence  in 
the  wisdom  of  this  Person  to  feel  that  He  un- 
derstands what  He  is  saying,  and  that  it  is  he, 
the  questioner  and  would-be  disciple,  who  is  at 
fault ;  and  yet  these  are  strange  words  that  he 
has  heard.  So  he  rejoins,  and  we  may  believe 
with  mingled  curiosity  and  timidity,  ''How  can 
a  man  be  born  when  he  is  old?"  whereupon 
Jesus,  who  is  preparing  the  Pharisee's  mind  for 
the  reception  of  the  great  truth  that  He  would 
have  to  take  root  in  it,  says,  and  even  more  im- 
pressively than  ever,  "Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto 
thee,  except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  That  which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh  ; 
and  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit. 
Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee,  Ye  must  be 
born  again.  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth, 
and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst 


10  THE  BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

not  tell  whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  go- 
eth  ;  so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit." 
Nicodemus  now  partially  understands  the  Mas- 
ter. A  gleam  of  light  flashes  in  upon  him. 
What  is  meant  is  this :  that  he  who  would 
enter  into  and  enjoy  the  privileges  of  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven  of  which  this  new  Teacher 
claims  to  be  the  Founder  and  Ruler  must  un- 
dergo an  inwai'd  change  through  the  operation 
of  influences  that  may  be  fitly  likened  to  the 
invisible  movements  of  the  wind.  But  still  the 
Pharisee's  mind  is  not  clear.  Why  should  he, 
a  son  of  the  Abrahamic  Covenant,  need  a  "  new 
birth,"  or  a  "  birth  from  above,"  to  prepare  him 
for  citizenship  in  the  Messiah's  Kingdom  ?  and 
then,  what  is  it  to  be  "born  of  the  Spirit?" 
A  gleam  of  light,  as  has  been  said,  has  flashed 
in  upon  him  ;  but  he  is  still  far  from  being  like 
one  around  whom  shines  the  full-orbed  radiance 
of  day. 

As  it  was  with  Nicodemus,  so  it  has  been 
with  multitudes  since  his  time  ;  and  so  it  is 
with  multitudes  now.  Far  better  acquainted 
as  the  modern  inquirer  into  Christianity  may 
be  than  was  that  Jewish  "  doctor  of  the  law" 
with    the  purpose  that   brought  our  Lord  into 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  H 

the  world,  the  declaration  made  to  the  Pharisee 
may  sound  hardly  less  startling  to  him  or  her 
who  for  the  first  time  seriously  considers  it. 
What  does  to  be  "  born  again "  or  "  from 
above  "  mean  ?  Is  it  a  mere  figure  of  speech, 
or  is  it  symbolical  of  some  high  and  solemn 
truth  that  must  be  mastered  at  any  cost  of 
mental  effort?  Such  a  questioner  feels  sure 
that,  since  it  is  Jesus  Himself  who  declares 
this,  it  is  not  to  be  passed  over  as  if,  like  so 
many  declarations  that  one  hears,  it  had  no 
strong  claim  upon  the  attention.  Coming  from 
such  a  source,  it  must  mean  something,  and, 
therefore,  what  does  it  mean?  ''How,"  as 
Nicodemus  asked,  ''  can  these  things  be  ?  " 

II-  —  The    Jewish    Doctrine  of  the  New 
Birth. 

To  answer  the  question,  ''  How  can  these 
things  be?"  we  need  here  to  remember  that 
our  Lord  invented  no  new  phrase  when  He 
spoke  of  a  man  as  undergoing  a  second  birth, 
Nicodemus  had  often  heard  such  a  phrase. 
When  a  Gentile  was  converted  to  Judaism,  it 
was  said  that  he  had  been  ''  born  again  "  or 
"  anew."     He   was  received  into    the    fold    of 


12  THE  BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

Israel  by  baptism  as  well  as  by  the  submission 
of  himself  to  certain  imperative  requirements 
of  the  ceremonial  law,  —  his  baptism  signifying 
the  supposed  washing  of  his  soul  to  cleanse  it 
from  defilement.^  Hence  water  was  a  most  ex- 
pressive symbol  to  the  Jews  of  that  day.  Its 
use  in  the  case  of  a  proselyte  was  the  sign  of 
what  was  hoped  to  be  an  inward  fact.  John 
the  Baptist  caused  his  discij)les  to  submit  them- 
selves to  the  rite,2  and,  although  the  Pharisees 
criticised  him  for  so  doing,^  there  was  nothing 
about  the  rite  itself  that  was  difficult  to  under- 
stand. The  difficulty  was  that  a  Jew  should 
be  asked  to  conform  to  it.  And  that  was  in 
part  the  difficulty  with  Nicodemus.  Like  his 
brother  Pharisees,  it  seemed  strange  that,  under 

1 "  He  (Nicodemus)  inquired  how  the  language  of  Jesus  could 
be  literally  true,  —  not  because  he  was  ignorant  of  its  usual 
figurative  meaning,  but  because  he  could  imagine  no  proper 
application  of  that  meaning  to  the  Jews.  *  It  may  seem  remark- 
able that  Nicodemus  understood  our  Saviour  literally,  when 
the  expression  to  be  bom  again  was  in  common  use  among  the 
Jews,  to  denote  a  change  from  Gentilism  to  Judaism  by  be- 
coming a  proselyte  by  baptism.  The  word  with  them  meant 
a  change  from  the  state  of  a  heathen  to  that  of  a  Jew.  But 
they  never  used  it  as  applicable  to  a  Jew,  because  tliey  sup- 
posed that  by  his  birtli  he  was  entitled  to  all  tlie  privileges 
of  the  people  of  God.'  —  Barnes^  Paige's  Comment,  on 
John  iii.  4. 

2  Matt.  iii.  1-6.  3  joim  i.  25. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  13 

any  circumstances,  Israelites  should  have  to  be 
baptized.  But  this  was  not  the  sole  difficulty 
with  liim.  The  additional  phrase,  *' of  the 
Spirit,"  greatly  perplexed  this  seeker  after 
truth.  He  could  not  conceive  what  it  meant, 
and  he  doubtless  went  away  asking  himself 
over  and  over  again,  ''  What  is  it  to  be  '  born 
of  the  Spirit '  ?  "  Yet  we  may  believe  that  he 
left  the  Saviour's  presence  with  the  leaven  of 
new  and  quickening  thoughts  workings  in  his 
mind.  He  was  now,  although  in  secret,  a  dis- 
ciple of  the  Christ, — a  learner,  that  is,  in  His 
school.  For  it  will  be  remembered  that  he 
defended  Jesus  in  the  Sanhedrim  when  our 
Lord's  enemies  sought  to  have  Him  arrested,^ 
and  that,  in  company  with  Joseph  of  Arimathea, 
he  provided  interment  for  the  Teacher  whom  he 
had  come  to  honor  and  love.^ 

in.  —  The  Holy  Spirit. 

Having  seen  what  to  be  "  born  again  "  meant 
to  the  Jew,  we  are  now  prepared  to  consider 
what  it  means  to  the  enlightened  Christian, 
especially  as  it  conveys  to  his  mind  the  enkind- 
ling   thought    of    Divine   power     co-operating 

1  Jolin  vii.  50-52.  2  j^i^n  ^ix.  38-42. 


14  THE   BIRTH   FROM   ABOVE. 

with  faith  in  the  work  of  drawing  men  toward 
God.  And,  setting  about  this  grateful  task,  it 
is  obvious  that  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to 
inquire  into  the  meaning  of  the  phrase  so  often 
met  with  in  Scripture,  —  the  Spirit, 

Among  the  first  words  upon  which  the  eye 
falls,  as  it  turns  to  the  opening  chapter  of  Holy 
Writ,  are  these ;  ''  And  the  earth  was  without 
form  and  void  ;  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face 
of  the  deep.  And  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  up- 
on the  face  of  the  waters ;  "  ^  while,  as  we  near 
the  close  of  the  Vision  of  St.  John  the  Divine, 
we  read,  "  And  the  Spirit  and  the  bride  sa}^ 
Come."  ^  Between  these  two  passages,  the  fur- 
tlier  and  the  hither  shore,  as  it  Avere,  of  the 
ocean  of  recorded  Revelation,  there  are,  in  our 
English  Version,  few  words  of  more  frequent 
occurrence  than  "Spirit,"  "  Holy  Spirit,"  and 
"  Holy  Ghost."  In  the  Hebrew  the  word  thus 
rendered  Spii'it  is  ruach,  wind.  In  the  Greek, 
the  primary  signification  is  the  same.  The  Greek 
for  Holy  Spirit  and  Holy  Ghost  is  the  same  in 
each  instance,  for  which  reason  the  American 
members  of  tlie  Revision  Committee  wished  to 
have  the  plirase  uniformly  rendered  Holy  Spirit. 
1   Genesis  i.  2.  2  Revelation  xxii.  17. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  15 

Thus  we  are  told  that,  "  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
came  upon  David,"  ^  and  that  "  the  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  departed  from  Sauh"  ^  Thus  the 
Psalmist  sings,  '*  Thou  sendest  forth  thy  Spirit, 
the}^  are  created ;  and  Thou  renewest  the  face 
of  the  earth."  3  Thus,  speaking  of  the  "  Rod  " 
that  shall  come  forth  "  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse," 
the  greatest  of  the  poet-seers  declares  that  "  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon  Him."  *  Thus 
the  Herald-Baptist,  prophesying  of  the  "  One 
mightier  "  than  himself  who  ''  cometh,"  says  to 
the  listeniug  multitude,  "  He  shall  baptize  you 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire."  ^  Thus  we 
read  that  at  the  baptism  of  Jesus  "  the  Holy 
Ghost  descended  in  a  bodily  shape  like  a  dove 
upon  Him  ;  "  and  thus  our  Lord,  issuing  His 
parting  orders  to  His  apostles,  says,  "  Go  ye 
therefore,  and  teach  (make  disciples  of)  all  na- 
tions, baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  teach- 
ing them  to  observe  ail  things  whatsoever  I 
have  commanded  you  :  and,  lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway,    even    unto    the    end    of    the    world."  ^ 

1  1  Samuel  xvi.  13.  2  ibid.  14.  3  Psalms  civ.  .30. 

4  Isaiah  xi.  2.  ^  Luke  iii.  16,  22. 

6  Matthew  xxviii.  19,  20. 


16  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

Scripture  abounds  with  passages  like  these,  all 
of  which  point  to  the  belief  of  the  Hebrew  and 
the  Christian  in  a  personal  wisdom  and  power 
to  which  the  name  of  Spirit,  or  to  distinguish  it 
from  the  spirit  that  dwells  in  man,  the  Holy 
Spirit,  is  reverently  given. 

There  is,  then,  in  the  language  of  tlie  Old 
Testament,  a  ''  Spirit  of  the  Lord,"  or,  in  that 
of  the  New  Testament,  a  ^' Holy  Spirit  ;"  and 
therefore  every  one  that  accepts  the  guidance 
of  Scripture  ought  to  be  able  to  affirm  with  the 
oldest  of  the  written  creeds  of  Christendom,  "I 
believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  ^  Furthermore, 
whatever  other  teaching  under  this  head  such  a 
person  may  feel  compelled  to  reject,  he  or  she, 
it  seems  to  us,  ouglit  to  be  able  to  believe  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  God  at  work  in  nature  and 
the  human  soul  as  a  creative,  sustaining,  gov- 
erning, enlightening,  and  regenerating  Power. 
When  the  Psalmist,  in  the  w^ords  just  quoted, 
says,  "  Thou  sendest  forth  Thy  Spirit,  the}-  are 
created  :  and  Thou  renewest  the  face  of  the 
earth,"  he  is  thinking  of  God  as  the  informing 
Life  and  Energy  of  Nature  and  her  myriad  crea- 
tures ;  and  when  the  Apostle  says,  "  The  Spirit 

1  Vid.  Apostles'  Creed. 


THE   BIRTH   FROM   ABOVE.  17 

itself  beareth  witness  with  our  spirit,  that  we 
are  the  children  of  God,"  ^  he  can  mean  nothing 
less  than  that  God  is  present  in  the  souls  of 
himself  and  his  brethren,  and  is  speaking  to 
them  in  a  language  that  is  not  wholly  unintelli- 
gible. Hence  the  phrase  "  Holy  Spirit "  is  not 
a  convenient  rhetorical  figure,  but  the  symbol 
of  an  eternal  Verity.  When  Scripture  speaks 
of  a  "  Spirit  of  the  Lord  "  or  of  a  "  Holy  Spirit," 
it  means  precisely  what  it  says,  —  that  there  is 
such  a  Spirit,  and  that  this  Spirit  is  none  other 
than  God  Himself,  who  is  a  Spirit,^  presiding  as 
a  Spirit  over  the  affairs  of  the  physical  world, 
and  potently  present  in  the  soul  of  man,  the 
greatest  of  His  works. 

Thus,  to  answer  the  question  of  Nicodemus, 
"How  can  these  things  be?"  —  how  can  one 
be  "  born  again  "  or ''  from  above  ?  "  —  one  must 
believe  that  there  is  a  H0I3'  Spirit  to  make  such 
a  re-birth  possible.  The  same  mode  of  reason- 
ing that  leads  us  to  regard  physical  phenomena 
as  the  manifestation  of  a  Higher  Power  impels 
us  to  attribute  spiritual  life  in  man  to  the  same 
adorable  Soarce.  Everything,  we  say,  is  the 
product  of  some  cause,  and  consequently  if  there 

1  Romans  viii.  16.  2  John  iv.  24. 

2 


18  THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

is  such  a  thing  as  spiritual  life,  it,  as  well  as 
anything  else,  must  have  a  cause.  What,  then, 
can  that  cause  be  but  the  Holy  Spnit  ?  What 
else  can  be  adequate  to  its  production  ?  The 
Christian  thinker  rejoins,  ''  Nothing,"  and  so 
speaks  of  the  Holy  Sph-it  as  the  "  Author  and 
Giver  of  Life  "  in  the  highest  and  fullest  sense 
in  which  the  word  '^  life "  can  be  used. 

IV.  —  Man  a  Moral  Being. 

But,  as  there  can  be  no  spiritual  life  without 
a  Holy  Spirit,  so  man  can  know  nothing  of  such 
life  unless  he  has  a  nature  in  which  it  can  be 
developed.  Accordingly,  if  we  cannot  believe 
that  man  is  something  more  than  so  much  finely 
organized  matter,  it  is  useless  to  discuss  the 
possibility  of  a  ''birth  from  above."  If  he  be 
nothing  but  a  higher  animal,  the  words  of  Jesus 
to  Nicodemus  deal  with  figments  of  the  imagi- 
nation and  not  with  commanding  facts,  and 
serve  only  to  illustrate  one  of  a  number  of  doc- 
trines which,  however  venerable  and  however 
widely  received,  have  no  solid  basis  of  truth. 

We  shall  not  attempt  to  prove  that  man  is  a 
moral  being,  but  assume  that  he  is  one.  The 
purpose  of  this  treatise  is  not  to  combat  unbe- 


THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  19 

lief,  but  to  exhibit  a  wholesome  doctrine  to 
those  ^vho  profess  to  accept  the  teachings  of 
Christ  and  His  Apostles.  Moreover,  however 
strongly  tempted  we  might  be  to  enter  into  an 
argument  with  those  who  deny  that  man  is  a 
moral  being,  we  should  be  withheld  from  so  do- 
ing by  the  limited  space  at  our  disposal,  which 
forbids  us  to  do  anything  more  than  to  present 
the  doctrine  of  the  "  Birth  from  Above  "  as  we 
understand  it. 

Christian  philosophy  is  wont  to  recognize  a 
threefold  division  in  human  nature,  and  hence 
speaks  of  man  as  having  a  hody^  a  soul,  and  a 
spirit.  This  triple  division  of  man  occurs  fre* 
quently  in  ancient  authors. ^  The  body  is  the 
animal  part  of  us,  and  reminds  us  of  our  phys- 
ical relationship  to  the  brute  creation.  The 
soul  is  the  intellectual  and  immortal  principle 
within  us,  —  that  which  in  our  eyes  distinguishes 
us  from  an  ox,  a  dog,  or  a  bird.  The  spirit 
represents  what  is  higher  than  the  soul,  as  the 
soul  does  what  is  higher  than  the  bod}^  —  the 
divinest  fact  about  us,  the  entity  by  means  of 
which  we  can  commune  with  Him  who  made 
us,  and  of  whom  we  speak  as  "  the   Father  of 

1  See  Krauth,  "  Vocabulary  of  Pliilosophy,"  p.  477. 


20  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

spirits."  The  spirit  may  in  truth  be  called  the 
soul  of  the  soul,  and  is  that  part  of  us  that  must 
be  quickened  and  educated,  if  religious  life,  in 
the  finer  sense,  is  to  be  enjoyed  hy  us.  All  men 
live  in  the  body  and  the  soul  ;  but  all  men  do 
not  live  in  the  spirit,  at  least  consciously,  and 
it  is  therefore  to  this  kind  of  life  that  Jesus  re- 
fers when  He  says,  ''  Except  a  man  be  born 
again  (or  from  above),  he  cannot  see  the  King- 
dom of  God."  This  is  what  He  means  by 
"  eternal  life,"  and  the  potency  of  which  He 
would  impress  upon  us  when  He  says,  "  I  am 
come  that  they  might  have  life,  and  that  they 
might  have  it  more  abundantly."  ^  Says  the 
late  Rev.  F.  W.  Robertson,  as  he  speaks  of  this 
threefold  division  of  human  nature,  and  ex- 
pounds the  words  of  St.  Paul,  "  And  I  pray 
God  your  whole  spirit  and  soul  and  body  be 
preserved  blameless  unto  the  coming  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ :  "  2  u  xhe  third  division  "  — 
he  has  previously  spoken  of  the  other  two  — 
"the  third  division  of  which  the  apostle  speaks, 
he  calls  the  '  spirit ; '  and  by  the  spirit  he  means 
that  life  in  man  which,  in  his  natural  state,  is 
in  such  an  embryo  condition  that  it  can  scarcely 

1  John  X.  10  21  Thessalonians  v.  23. 


THE    BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  21 

be  said  to  exist  at  all,  —  that  which  is  called  oat 
into  power  and  vitality  by  regeneration,  the 
perfection  of  the  powers  of  human  nature.  And 
you  will  observe,  that  is  not  merel}'  the  instinc- 
tive life,  nor  the  intellectual  life,  nor  the  moral 
life,  but  it  is  principally  our  nobler  affections,  — 
that  existence,  that  state  of  being  which  we  call 
love."i 

Hence,  because  man  is  a  moral  being  and  as 
such  contains  within  him  the  generous  possi- 
bilities of  spiritual  life,  the  Holy  Spirit  engages 
in  no  hopeless  task  in  seeking  to  arouse  him  to 
a  recognition  of  his  higher  duty  as  a  rational 
creature.  His  spiritual  nature  may  be  steeped 
in  drowsiness  ;  it  may  resemble  that  deadly  con- 
dition known  as  coma^  when  the  patient  is 
wholly  unconscious,  and  those  about  him  al- 
most despair  of  him  ;  but  still  there  is  a  spirit- 
ual principle  within  him,  and  it  is  possible  to 
arouse  it  into  activity.  There  is  something  to 
work  upon,  and  accordingly  the  Holy  Spirit 
only  attempts  what  has  already  been  made 
possible  in  striving  to  quicken  that  something 
into  consciousness,  and  cause  it  to  play  its 
proper  part  in  the  realm  of  higher  life. 

1  Sermon  iv.  Third  Series. 


22  THE   BIRTH   FROM   ABOVE. 

V.  —  The  Kingdom  of  God. 

At  this  point  we  need  to  inquire  what  is  to 
be  understood  by  that  "Kingdom  of  God" 
which  we  are  told  that  a  man  cannot  "  see  " 
or  ''  enter  into,"  unless  he  be  "  born  from 
above."  The  phrase  "  Kingdom  of  God,"  or  its 
equivalent,  ''  Kingdom  of  Heaven,"  is  of  fre- 
quent occurrence  in  Christian  Scripture,  and, 
though  often  misinterpreted,  its  meaning  ought 
not  to  escape  us.  It  is  applied,  on  the  one 
hand,  to  that  Society  which  our  Lord  came  into 
the  world  to  establish,  and  to  which  we  com- 
monly give  the  name  of  Christian  Church,  and, 
on  the  other,  to  that  reign  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness on  earth  which  the  Church  is  designed  to 
image  forth  and  advance,  and  which  the  Saviour 
seeks  to  make  universal  through  the  acceptance 
of  His  Gospel.  Thus  He  referred  to  the  Church, 
or  Divine  organization  of  which  He  was  the 
Head,  when,  commenting  on  the  unwillingness 
of  the  young  man  who  "  had  great  possessions  " 
to  relinquish  them  all  and  follow  Him,  He  said, 
"How  hardly"  —  that  is,  with  what  difficulty 
—  "  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the 
Kingdom    of    Heaven," —  become,    that    is,    a 


THE  BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  23 

faithful  and  useful  member  of  a  society  which, 
in  that  day,  demanded  a  complete  severance 
from  all  worldly  ties  and  cares,  that  the  work 
of  the  Gospel  might  be  freely  prosecuted.i 
Thus,  again,  Christ  referred  to  His  Church 
when,  prophesying  the  acceptance  of  the  Gospel 
by  the  Gentiles,  He  said :  "  And  they  shall 
come  from  the  east,  and  from  the  west,  and 
from  the  north,  and  from  the  south,  and  shall 
sit  down  in  the  Kingdom  of  God."  2  g^t  in 
passages  such  as  the  following  the  phrase  refers 
to  the  principles  of  the  Gospel  as  they  take  up 
their  abode  in  the  human  breast,  and  dominate 
the  life.  "  Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall 
be  added  unto  you  ;  "  ^  ''The  Kingdom  of  God 
Cometh  not  with  observation.  Neither  shall 
they  say,  Lo  here  !  or,  Lo  there  !  for  behold, 
the  Kingdom  of  God  is  within  you  ;  "  '^  "  The 
Kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink;  but 
righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost. "5  Here  the  spiritual  side  of  the  Divine 
Kingdom  is  dwelt  upon,  and  we  are  asked  to 
think  of  it  more  especially  as  embracing  those 

1  Mark  x.  23.    Matt.  xix.  23-24.  2  Ly^e  xiii.  29. 

8  Matt.  vi.  33.  *  Luke  xvii.  20.  s  Komans  xiv.  17. 


24  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

whose  hearts  have  been  purified  and  exalted, 
and  brought  into  loving  communion  with  the 
Great  Heart  of  the  universe.  It  is  what  the 
Church  of  Christ,  or  visible  Kingdom  of  God 
bears  witness  to,  as  it  goes  forth  "  conquering 
and  to  conquer,"  reminding  us  that  God,  by 
His  Spirit,  is  at  work  among  men,  and  is  sub- 
duing them  unto  Himself. 

In  His  conversation  with  Nicodemus,  our 
Lord,  we  think,  used  in  turn  the  phrase  ''King- 
dom of  God "  in  each  of  the  senses  that  we 
have  specified.  When  He  said,  "Except  a  man 
be  born  again  "  —  or  from  above  —  ''  he  cannot 
see  the  Kingdom  of  God,"  He  referred,  we  con- 
ceive, to  the  Society  which  He  was  organizing, 
the  existence  of  which,  as  a  Divine  fact,  one 
who  had  not  undergone  a  re-birth  could  not 
recognize,  and  into  intellectual  and  spiritual 
sympathy  with  which  he  could  not  come  ;  where- 
as, when  He  said,  "Except  a  man  be  born  of 
water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the 
Kingdom  of  God,"  He  seems  to  have  been  refer- 
ring to  His  Church,  as  a  visible  institution,  and 
to  have  been  indicating  what  was  necessary,  if 
a  man  were  to  be  admitted  to  its  privileges,  and 
be  regarded  a  worthy  partaker  of  them. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  25 

VI —  The   Necessity  of   the    Birth  from 
Above. 

We  come  now  to  the  question  of  supreme 
importance  in  connection  with  the  subject  be- 
fore us:  Why  must  a  man  be  born  from  above, 
if  he  would  see  and  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of 
God?  This  question  the  Saviour  answers  thus: 
"  That  whicli  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh ;  and 
that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is  spirit;"  and 
then  adds,  "  Marvel  not  that  I  say  unto  thee, 
Ye  must  be  born  again." 

*'  The  natural  man,"  says  Saint  Paul,  "  receiv- 
eth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God ;  for  they 
are  foolishness  unto  him,  neither  can  he  know 
them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned."  ^ 
The  "  natural  man  "  is  the  physical  and  social 
man,  living  wholly  in  the  senses,  or,  if  his  mind 
be  active,  giving  little  or  no  thought  to  any- 
thing, save  what  is  seen  and  felt.  He  has,  as 
we  have  said,  a  moral  nature,  and  that  nature 
is  capable  of  being  spiritually  quickened  ;  but 
is  dormant.  It  has  not  yet  awakened  to  a 
realization  of  what  to  the  religious  person  is 
a  fact,  —  that  there  is  a  God,  and  a   God  who 

i   1  Corinthians  ii.  14. 


26  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

asks  His  rational  creatures  to  acknowledge  His 
existence  and  obey  Him.  Such  a  man  may, 
and  probably  will,  admit  that  there  is  a  Supreme 
Being;  he  may  even  call  himself  a  Christian, 
for  the  name  Christian  is  often  most  improperly 
appropriated  and  bestowed,  —  but  he  has  no 
spiritual  life.  He  "  receiveth  not  the  things  of 
the  Spirit  of  God,"  since  he  knows  not  what 
they  are.  "  They  are  foolishness  unto  liim." 
When  he  hears  words  like  those  spoken  to 
Nicodemus,  he  marvels  at  them.  He  cannot 
imagine  what  they  mean.  The  language  of 
thoughtful  Christians  often  sounds  almost  for- 
eign to  him.  What  are  these  "  experiences " 
of  which  they  speak  ?  What  are  the  ''  joys  " 
about  which  they  talk  ?  When  they  thus  con- 
verse, he  feels  as  much  out  of  place  in  their 
company  as  an  unpoetic  man  would  feel  in  the 
society  of  poets,  or  a  man  with  no  knowledge 
of,  or  natural  taste  for  art,  in  the  society  of 
painters  and  sculptors.  He  may  be  wise  enough 
to  perceive  that  they  are  discoursing  of  realities 
of  which  he  unfortunately  knows  nothing ;  but 
it  is  quite  as  likely  that  he  will  think  that  they 
are  dealing  in  nonsense,  and  consequently  that 
they  have  nothing   whatever  to  teach  him. 


THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  27 

Hence  the  necessit}'  that  the  "  natural  man  " 
shall  be  born  from  above,  if  the  "  things  of  the 
Spirit "  are  not  to  remain  "  foolishness  unto 
him."  Not  until  he  has  himself  undergone  what 
Christian  people  have  undergone  will  he  under- 
stand and  share  their  happiness.  And  par- 
ticularly is  this  true  with  respect  to  what  such 
people  are  in  character,  —  that  is,  with  respect 
to  their  devotion  to  Divine  truths  to  their  un- 
selfish love  for  what  is  pure  and  noble,  and  their 
willing  labors  in  behalf  of  others.  They  will 
be  more  or  less  of  an  enigma  to  him,  and  he 
will  be  continually  asking  himself,  "  What  is 
the  secret  of  their  conduct  ?  Why  do  they  feel 
what  I  do  not  feel,  and  do  what  I  have  no 
inclination  to  do  ?  " 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  majority  of  those 
about  us  are  in  the  condition  of  the  "  natural 
man."  They  may  be  "  very  good  people,"  as 
the  saying  goes,  and  have  many  admirable 
traits  ;  but  religion,  as  the  Christian  under- 
stands the  term,  is  a  mystery  to  them.  The 
higher  realm  of  faith,  hope,  and  love  is  as  far 
above  that  with  which  they  are  familiar  as  the 
mountains  are  above  the  plains  that  behold 
them  from   afar.     Indeed,  they  are  not  aware 


28  THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

that  there  is  such  a  realm.  It  is  not  only  an 
unexplored,  but  an  undiscovered  country  to 
them.  They  must  be  ''  born  from  above " 
before  they  can  know  anything  about  it.  As  it 
was  necessary  for  them  to  be  born  in  the  flesh 
before  they  could  have  rational  existence  in  the 
world  of  matter,  and  behold  and  rejoice  in  the 
beauty  and  glory  of  nature,  so  they  must  be 
born  in  the  spirit  before  the}'  can  become  con- 
scious that  there  is  a  spiritual  world,  and  one  in 
which,  as  the  children  of  the  Everlasting  Father, 
it  is  their  high  privilege  to  live.  Well,  then, 
might  our  blessed  Lord  say,  "  That  which  is 
born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born 
of  the  Spirit  is  spirit ;  "  and  well  might  He 
add,  "Marvel  not  that  I  said  unto  thee.  Ye 
must  be  born  again."  No  truth  more  solemn 
and  sublime  ever  fell  from  His  holy  lips  ;  and 
no  one  who  has  not  mastered  this  truth  has 
attained  unto  the  higher  summits  of  Christian 
thought  and  feeling,  —  in  other  words,  of  Chris- 
tian life.  This,  we  trust,  is  asserted  in  all 
humilit}^  without  any  admixture  of  self-right- 
eousness. Our  reason  for  the  assertion  is  a  deep 
and  settled  conviction  of  what  we  regard  as  eter- 
nally true.    "  The  natural  man  receiveth  not  the 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  29 

things  of  the  Spirit  of  God  :  for  they  are  foolish- 
ness unto  him:  neither  can  he  know  them, 
because  they  are  spiritually  discerned."  He 
must  be  "  born  again,"  or  "from  above,"  if  he 
would  "see"  and  "enter  into,"  the  Kingdom 
of  God. 

VII.  — "How  Can  These  Things  Be?" 

But  still  again,  as  Nicodemus  would  say, 
"  How  can  these  things  be  ?  "  By  what  means 
can  a  man  be  "  born  from  above  "  ?  An  answer 
is  found  in  the  words,  "  Except  a  man  be  born 
of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into 
the  Kingdom  of  God."  Let  us  consider  what 
this  answer  involves,  and  first,  why  our  Lord 
should  speak  of  water. 

We  have  seen  how,  among  the  Jews,  baptism 
by  water  signified  a  change  of  mind  and  heart, 
symbolizing  the  new  relations  in  which  the 
convert  stood  to  God  and  to  the  body  of  be- 
lievers with  whom  he  had  associated  himself. 
He  had  become  cleansed,  it  was  hoped,  from 
the  sins,  follies,  and  errors  of  the  past,  and  had 
solemnly  dedicated  his  life  to  the  service  of  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel.  This  ordinance  Jesus  re- 
tained, and  with  those  who  believe  in  Him  as  the 


30  THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

Christ  its  retention  should  be  a  sufficient  reason 
why  they  should  willingly  submit  to  it,  and  in 
the  manner  prescribed  by  Him,  when,  sending 
forth  His  Apostles  to  the  moral  conquest  of  the 
world,  He  said,  "  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach 
(make  disciples  of)  all  nations,  baptizing  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost. "^  Such  was  the  command 
of  Him  whom  we  call  "  the  Way  and  the 
Truth  and  the  Life  ;  "  and  whether  one  regard 
the  use  of  water  in  baptism  as  a  mere  sign  or 
symbol,  or  as  something  in  itself  efficacious,  it 
is  a  command  that  should  be  loyally  and  lovingly 
obeyed. 

It  was  impossible  that  our  Lord  should 
enjoin  anything  that  was  useless, — that  he 
should  require  of  His  followers  more  than  was 
right.  There  was  a  divine  reason  for-  every- 
thing He  did,  and  He  could  have  imposed  no 
ordinance  that  was  not  in  closest  sympathy  with 
the  needs  of  them  whom  He  had  come  to  heal 
and  to  save.  As  in  the  Old  Dispensation  water 
had  been  the  symbol  of  purification,  so,  and  in 
a  much  larger  and  finer  sense,  it  was  to  be  in 
the   New,  becoming   to   the    true  believer  the 

1  Matthew  xxviii.  19. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  31 

"outward   and  visible   sign  of  an  inward  and 
spiritual  grace." 

Nor  should  we  forget  that  our  Lord  Himself 
was  baptized,  at  the  hands  of  His  great  forerun- 
ner, the  last  of  the  Hebrew  prophets. ^  Despite 
the  expostulations  of  the  Baptist,  He  requested 
this  to  be  done,  because  He  was  man's  immacu- 
late Exemplar.  Whatever  else  baptism  meant 
in  His  case,  it  certainly  meant  that  He  asked  no 
more  of  others  than  He  was  ready  to  do  Him- 
self; and  he  who  acknowledges  Jesus  as  his 
Teacher  and  Saviour  should  not  refuse  to  follow 
Him  in  this.  "  The  disciple  is  not  above  his 
Master,  nor  the  servant  above  his  Lord."  2 

But  our  Lord  speaks  of  being  ''  born  of  water 
and  of  the  Spirit.'''  More  than  water  is  neces- 
sary if  one  is  to  be  "  born  again,"  or  regener- 
ated. One's  higher  nature  must  be  quickened 
and  developed  by  power  from  above,  if  he  is  to 
become  what  the  Apostle  calls  a  "  new  creature 
(creation)  in  Christ."  ^  Hence  the  need  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  without  whose  aid  regeneration  is 
impossible.  How  this  aid  is  rendered,  what  the 
process  is  by  means  of  which  a  new  life  is  born 

1  Matthew  iii.  13-17.  2  n^jj.  ^  24. 

^  2  Corinthians  v.  17. 


32  THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

within  us,  we  do  not  know.  It  is  one  of  those 
mysteries  that  we  strive  in  vain  to  comprehend. 
But  its  being  a  mystery  is  no  reason  why  we 
sliould  refuse  to  believe  in  it,  any  more  than 
that  we  should  believe  in  it  simply  because  it  is 
a  mystery.  It  is  enough  that  Christ  teaches 
that  there  is  a  heavenly  reality  underlying  it, 
and  that  we  are  able  to  recognize  that  reality 
in  what  is  wrought  out  in  ourselves  and  others. 
Light  and  heat  are  mysteries  ;  and  yet  we  know 
them  to  be  facts.  The  operation  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  man  is  impenetrably  mysterious  ;  and 
yet  every  one  who  is  sensible  of  an  indwell- 
ing grace  through  the  visitation  of  the  Spirit, 
and  who  l)eholds  in  fellow  mortals  the  un- 
deniable evidences  of  the  same  regenerating 
process,  knows  that,  mysterious  as  that  pro- 
cess is,  it  is  a  fact,  and  one  of  the  most  joyous 
and  blessed  facts  that  can  fill  the  soul  with 
awe  and  wonder,  and  inspire  gratitude  and 
praise. 

Let  no  one,  then,  be  repelled  from  the  Scrip- 
tural doctrine  of  regeneration,  because  it  in- 
volves a  mystery,  since  such  an  objection  holds 
equally  good  in  the  case  of  other  doctrines  set 
forth  in  Scripture,  and  reverently  accepted  by 


THE   BIRTH   FROM   ABOVE.  33 

our  reason.  We  believe  in  Gocl  as  an  everlast- 
ing, self-existent  personality,  the  Creator  and 
Preserver  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible,  in 
whom  "  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  be- 
jjjg  .  "  1  jQ^  when  are  we  confronted  by  so  be- 
wildering and  overpowering  a  mystery  as  when 
we  think  of  the  Godhead,  and  try  to  conceive 
what  it  is  like  ?  We  believe  in  Jesus  the  Christ, 
as  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  Man,  as  one 
wholly  without  sin,  the  only  perfect  being  who 
has  ever  trod  the  earth  ;  and  yet  what  a  mys- 
tery we  have  in  Him !  Nay,  what  a  standing 
marvel  He  is,  even  to  them  who  deny  His  Di- 
vine origin  and  superhuman  powers,  and  yet 
believe  Him  to  be  an  historical  personage. 
Theodore  Parker  said  of  our  Lord :  "  I  do  not 
believe  in  the  perfection  of  Jesus,  that  He  had 
no  faults  of  character,  was  never  mistaken, 
never  angr}^  never  out  of  humor,  never  de- 
jected, never  despairing."  ^  And  yet  this 
gifted  iconoclast  must  have  felt  that  there 
was  such  a  mystery  about  Jesus  as  there  was 
about   no    other  person  who   has    appeared   in 

1  Acts  xviii.  28. 

2  Selections  from  Theodore  Parker's  "Unpublished  Sermons, 
Eng.  ed.,  1865,  p.  244. 

3 


34  THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

the  flesh,  when  he  wrote  the  hymn  beginning 
with,  — 

"  O  thou  great  Friend  to  all  the  sons  of  men." 
and  ending^  with  this  stanza :  — 

"  Yes,  thou  art  still  the  Life,  thou  art  the  Way, 

The  holiest  know  ;  Light,  Life,  the  Way  of  heaven  ! 
And  they  who  dearest  hope  and  deepest  pray 

Toil  by  the  Light,  Life,  Way,  which  thou  hast  given." 

So,  too,  we  not  only  believe  but  know  that 
there  are  such  facts  as  the  Universe  and  the 
life  that  we  are  living  in  it ;  and  yet  what  mys- 
teries rise  up  before  us  when  we  look  around 
and  within,  and  ask,  "  What  mean  these 
things?"  There  is  not  an  object  that  greets 
the  eye,  be  it  a  blade  of  grass,  or  a  falling  leaf, 
that  does  not  enshrine  wonders  too  deep  for  a 
Linnseus  or  a  Newton. 

"  Flower  in  the  crannied  wall," 

muses  Tennyson, 

"  I  pluck  you  out  of  the  crannies,  — 
Hold  you  here,  root  and  all,  in  my  hand, 
Little  flower ;  but  if  I  could  understand 
What  you  are,  root  and  all,  and  all  in  all, 
I  should  know  what  God  and  man  is." 

Here,  there,  and  everywhere  do  mysteries  ac- 
cost us,  and  therefore  why  should  we  refuse  to 


THE  BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  35 

credit  what  Scripture  teaches  when  it  declares 
that,  by  a  mysterious  process  that  ever  eludes 
our  sight  and  touch,  gifts  are  conferred  upon  us 
that  make  us  the  citizens  of  a  spiritual  kingdom, 
and  the  heirs  of  favors  which  ''  eye  bath  not 
seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  have  entered  into 
the  heart  of  man  "  ?  ^ 

VIII.  —  The  Witness  of  the  Spirit. 

We  may  believe,  then,  on  the  authority  of 
Scripture  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  "  birth 
from  above,"  endowing  us  with  a  life  far  differ- 
ent from  that  with  which  we  enter  the  world. 
But  there  is  still  another  reason  why  we  may  so 
believe,  and  that  is  supplied  by  what  St.  Paul 
calls  "  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,"  ^  which  he  ap- 
peals to  in  support  of  his  assertion  that  he  and 
his  fellow  disciples  are  children  of  God,  and  to 
which  we,  convinced  with  him  that  there  is  such 
a  witness,  would  also  appeal. 

What  is  this  "  witness  "  of  which  the  Apostle 
speaks?     It  is,  we  conceive, — 

1.  First,  an  inward  assurance  that  there  is  a 
God,  who  is  ever  with  His  creatures,  and  who, 
doing  all  things  well,  may  be  freely  trusted,  and 

'  1  Corinthians  ii.  9.  ^  Romans  viii.  16. 


36  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

in  the  darkest  and  most  trying  hour.  There  is, 
of  course,  in  the  case  of  every  thoughtful  be- 
liever, an  intellectual  conviction  of  the  truth  of 
what  Scripture  affirms ;  but  the  assurance  of 
which  we  speak  is  more  than  such  a  conviction. 
It  is  a  strong,  irrepressible  feeling,  which  cannot 
be  adequately  defined,  that,  when  one  declares 
his  faith  in  things  unseen,  he  is  standing  on  the 
solid  ground  of  truth.  Even  though  he  be  de- 
ficient in  the  logica?.  faculty,  and  be  easily 
tripped  up  by  a  dextrous  antagonist,  the  feeling 
still  remains  that  he  is  in  the  truth.  His  con- 
fidence in  the  correctness  of  his  position  does 
not  depend  upon  syllogisms.  He  is  satisfied 
that  he  should  believe  in  God  and  His  Provi- 
dence, should  he  be  worsted  in  every  theological 
encounter,  and  though  everything  in  nature  and 
outward  experience  should  seem  to  contradict 
his  creed.  With  the  long-suffering  and  unfal- 
tering Job  he  exclaims,  "  Though  He  slay  me, 
yet  will  I  trust  in  Him  I"^  and  with  the  stead- 
fast Apostle  he  declares,  "  I  know  whom  I  have 
believed."  ^ 

Now  this  assurance  of  which  we  have  spoken 
is  a  part  of  "  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  "  that  he 

1  Job  xiii.  15.  2  Timothy  i.  12. 


THE   BIRTH   FROM  ABOVE.  37 

who  has  been  "born  from  above"  is  not  under 
the  spell  of  a  fond  delusion,  but  is  believing  in 
One  who  does  exist,  and  who  is  worthy  of  his 
best  service.  It  is  not  the  result  of  an  obstinate 
determination  to  believe,  regardless  of  aught 
that  may  be  urged  to  the  contrary,  nor  is  it  the 
result  of  blind  credulity.  It  is  a  spiritual  ex- 
perience of  the  truth,  and  as  such  is  the  Spirit's 
witness  to  the  truth.  It  is  not  something  that 
one  secures  by  himself,  but  something  that 
the  Spirit  confers.  It  belongs  to  that  order  of 
gifts  of  which  Saint  Paul  speaks,  when  he  says, 
"  The  fruit  of  the  Spirit  is  love,  joy,  peace, 
long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meek- 
ness, temperance."  ^ 

2.  Again,  "  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,"  af- 
firming the  reality  of  a  "  birth  from  above," 
is  afforded  the  faithful  disciple  in  those  mo- 
ments when  his  thouo-hts  and  feelino-s  are  more 
than  ordinarily  elevated,  when  his  inner  outlook 
is  fairer  and  more  commanding,  when  a  joy  is 
his  which  he  cannot  translate  into  words,  and 
a  deep,  ineffable  content  steals  over  him  that 
banishes  all  fear  and  sorrow.  It  is  not  the  mood 
of  the   warm   enthusiast,   who,  easily  wrought 

1  Galatians  v.  22,  23. 


38  THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

upon,  has  become  emotionally  aroused,  his  eye, 
like  the  poet's, 

"  in  a  fine  frenzy  rolling." 
It  is  a  mood  characterized  by  clear  perception, 
•calm  reflection,  and  quiet  gladness,  that  would 
'be  disturbed  and  broken  up  by  noise  and  dem- 
onstration. It  may  be  preceded  by  participation 
dn  some  act  of  worship,  in  which  one  has  been 
wholly  absorbed,  or  it  may  follow  in  the  train 
•of  ;an:agonizing  trial,  when,  for  a  time,  his  soul, 
like  the  Psalmist's,  has  been  cast  down,  and  he 
has  cried,  ''  All  Thy  waves  and  Thy  billows 
.are  gone  over  me ! "  ^  but  whatever  others 
.might  .think  and  say,  he  knows  what  that  ex- 
perience is  and  what  it  means.  God,  by  the 
Spirit, 'is  speaking  to  him;  he  is  favored  with 
a  foretaste,  however  small,  of  the  joy  and  glory 
yet  to  come  ;  "  the  peace  of  God  which  passeth 
.all  understanding "  ^  is  his ;  and  he  can  no 
more  doubt  the  report  of  his  spiritual  senses 
than  he  can  doubt  his  own  identity  as  a  being 
clothed  in  flesh  and  blood.  In  a  word,  the 
"  witness  of  the  Spirit  "  is  his,  and  so  unmis- 
takably, that  he  feels  that  it  would  be  sinful 
not    to    acknowledge    that    blessed    fact,    and 

1  Psalms  xlii.  7.  2  pjiji.  iy.  7. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  39 

meekly  adore  the  One  who  has  so  graciously 
visited  him. 

3.  Still  further,  the  ''witness  of  the  Spirit,'* 
certifying  to  the  truth  of  the  doctrine  that  there 
is  a  life  which  is  peculiarly  "  from  above,"  is 
given  in  the  walk  and  conversation  of  the 
thoughtful  and  earnest  believer.  Here  again 
we  are  reminded  of  that  "  fruit  of  the  Spirit," 
of  which  the  Apostle  speaks.  Because  a  new 
life  has  been  born  within  certain  men,  they  are 
able  to  conform  with  something  like  fidelity  to 
the  law  of  the  Gospel.  They  have  not  attained 
unto  perfection,  and  in  this  world  never  can  ; 
but  they  are  different  men  from  what  they  once 
were,  as  all  who  are  familiar  with  their  ante- 
cedents can  testify.  A  marked  change  has  come 
over  them.  They  have  a  strength  they  formerly 
sadly  lacked  with  which  to  resist  temptation, 
and  to  do  the  things  that  once  were  distasteful 
to  them  ;  and  knowing  this,  we  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  in  them  we  behold  the  ripening 
''fruit  of  the   Spirit." 

The  wondrous  transformation  that  was  wrought 
in  the  first  companions  of  Jesus  may  here  be 
cited.  When  they  went  about  proclaiming  the 
Gospel,    filled    to    overflowing   with    love   for 


40  THE   BIRTH   FROxM  ABOVE. 

God,  and  burning  with  love  for  fellow-mortals, 
they  were  far  different  men  from  what  they 
were  when  they  first  left  all  to  follow  their 
Master.  Look  at  Saint  Peter.  Outwardly  it 
was  the  same  Peter  that  preached  in  the  streets 
of  Jerusalem  after  the  Day  of  Pentecost  who, 
on  the  eve  of  the  Crucifixion,  thrice  vehemently 
denied  his  Lord ;  but  inwardly  it*  was  quite 
another  person.  Or  look  at  Saint  Paul.  The 
Saul  of  Tarsus  that  consented  unto  Stephen's 
death,  and  went  forth,  "  breathing  out  threaten- 
ings  and  slaughter  against  the  disciples  of  the 
Lord,"  ^  was  not,  as  his  friends  could  affirm,  the 
Paul  that  had  embraced  the  cause  of  them 
whom  he  had  persecuted,  and,  contrary  to  his 
old  Jewish  prejudices,  preached  salvation  as 
well  to  the  Gentile  as  to  the  Jew.  Both  of 
these  Apostles  showed  by  their  conduct  that 
they  had  been  "born  from  above."  Li  the 
change  that  had  taken  place  in  them,  the  Spirit 
bore  glorious  witness  that  the  Gospel  was  in 
truth  "  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation,"  ^  to 
every  one  that  believed. 

As  it  was  in  the  case  of  the  Apostles,  so  it 
was  in  the  case  of  the  thousands  who,  through 

1  Acts  ix.  1.  2  Komans  i.  10. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  41 

their  labors  and  the  blessing  of  God,  were  gath- 
ered into  the  fold  of  Christ.  One  of  the  most 
remarkable  facts  connected  with  the  progress 
of  the  new  faith  was  the  alteration  that  ensued 
in  the  lives  of  those  who  embraced  it.  The 
only  charge  against  the  early  Christians  that 
could  be  sustained,  was  that  theirs  was  a  religlo 
illicitae  —  a  religion,  that  is,  not  licensed  by  the 
State.  The  younger  Pliny,  when  enforcing,  as 
proconsul  of  Bithynia  and  Pontus,  Trajan's  edict 
against  them,  wrote  to  the  Emperor  saying 
that,  after  a  careful  investigation  of  their  belief 
and  practices,  he  could  "discover  nothing  but 
a  perverse  and  extravagant  superstition."  ^  By 
every  fair-minded  person  it  was  admitted  that, 
as  a  class,  the  Christians  were  a  singuhirly 
worthy  people,  chaste  and  sober,  honest  and 
industrious,  excellent  neighbors  and  good  citi- 
zens. And  yet,  if  we  are  to  believe  S.iint  Paul, 
such  had  not  been  the  character  of  many  of 
them  before  their  conversion.  In  his  letter  to 
the  Ephesians,  he  says,  *' And  you  haih  He 
(God)  quickened,  who  were  dead  in  trespasses 
and  sins  ;  wherein  in  time  past  ye  walked  ac- 
cording to  the  course  of  this  world,  according 

1  Epistle  X.  97. 


42  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

to  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the  spirit 
that  now  woiketh  in  the  children  of  diso- 
bedience :  among  whom  also  we  all  had  our 
conversation  in  times  past  in  the  lusts  of  our 
flesh,  fulfilling  the  desires  of  the  flesh  and  of 
the  mind ;  and  were  by  nature  the  children  of 
wrath,  even  as  others."^  And  in  his  letter  to 
the  Colossians,  the  same  Apostle  writes  :  "  Mor- 
tify therefore  your  members  which  are  upon  the 
earth ;  fornication,  uncleanness,  inordinate  affec- 
tion, evil  concupiscence,  and  covetousness,  which 
is  idolatry  :  for  which  things'  sake  the  wrath  of 
God  Cometh  on  the  children  of  disobedience : 
in  the  which  ye  also  walked  sometime,  when  ye 
lived  in  them."  ^  These  brethren  of  the  various 
churches  that  Saint  Paul  had  been  privileged 
to  organize  were  still  fallible  mortals  ;  they  still 
needed  to  be  instructed,  admonished,  and  ex- 
horted ;  but  they  gave  proof  for  the  most  part 
in  their  lives  of  the  transforming  might  of  the 
Spirit.  There  was  a  noticeable  difference  be- 
tween what  they  were,  as  the  professed  disciples 
of  Christ,  and  what  they  had  been,  when  they 
had  bowed  before  the  altars  of  heathen  di- 
vinities ;  and  in  that  difference  their  loving 
1  Ephesians  ii.  1-3.  ^  Colossians  iii.  5-7 


THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  43 

father  in  the  Gospel  saw  the  "  witness  of  the 
Spirit  "  to  a  fact  that  repaid  him  a  thousand 
times  over  for  all  that  he  had  done  and  suffered 
in  the  name  of  his  Ascended  Lord.  Thinking 
of  their  liberation  from  what,  referring  to  the 
debasing  worship  of  heathen  gods,  Saint  Augus- 
tine calls  *'  the  hellish  thraldom  of  these  un- 
clean spirits,"  he  could  have  said,  had  Christians 
been  as  numerous  in  his  day,  what  the  latter  did 
three  centuries  later, — that  none  but  ''aban- 
doned and  uno'rateful  wretches"  ''could  mur- 
mur  that  the  masses  flock  to  the  churches  and 
their  chaste  acts  of  worship  ;  where  a  seemly 
separation  of  the  sexes  is  observed ;  where  they 
learn  how  they  may  so  spend  this  earthly  life 
as  to  merit  a  blessed  eternity  hereafter  ;  where 
Holy  Scripture  and  instruction  in  righteousness 
are  proclaimed  from  a  raised  platform  in  pres- 
ence of  all,  that  both  they  who  do  the  word  may 
hear  to  their  salvation,  and  they  who  do  it  not 
may  hear  to  judgment.  And  though  some  enter 
who  scoff  at  such  precepts,  all  their  petulance 
is  either  quenched  by  a  sudden  change,  or  is 
restrained  through  fear  or  shame.  For  no  filthy 
and  wicked  action  is  there  set  forth  to  be  gazed 
at  or  to  be  imitated  ;  but  either  the  precepts  of 


44  THE   BIRTH   FROM  ABOVE. 

the  true  God  are  recommended,  His  miracles 
narrated,  His  gifts  praised,  or  His  benefits 
implored."  ^ 

And  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  the  Apostles  and 
their  earlier  successors,  so  it  has  been  ever  since. 
In  every  land  where  the  Banner  of  the  Cross 
has  been  unfurled,  there  have  always  been  some 
to  serve  as  living  witnesses  to  the  presence  and 
power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  teaching  of 
Scripture  under  this  head  has  been  wondrously 
supplemented  by  the  lives  of  true  disciples,  and 
thus  all  who  have  been  willing  to  use  their  eyes 
and  their  reason  have  been  given  a  most  con- 
vincing proof  of  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
doctrine  of  regeneration. 

What  Scripture  teaches,  then,  when  it  speaks 
of  the  "  witness  of  the  Spirit,"  is  re-affirmed  by 
experience.  The  believer's  inward  assurance  of 
the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  his  moments  of  clearer 
spiritual  insight  and  deeper  tranquillity,  and  the 
difference  between  his  life  and  that  of  the  "  natu- 
ral man,"  all  proclaim  the  presence  within  him  of 
a  Divine  Guest,  who,  as  the  Son  of  Man  was 
not  ashamed  to  abide  in  the  humblest  Jewish 
Jiome,   is  not   ashamed    to  make    an    abode    of 

1  De.  Civ.  Dei,  ii.  28,  Dod's  translation,  Edin.  1878. 


THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  45 

any    heart   whose    doors   are    thrown   open   in 
welcome. 

IX.  —  Conversion  and  the   Work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit. 

What  we  mean,  when  we  speak  of  the  "  bh'th 
from  above,"  or  regeneration,  we  assume  that 
the  reader  now  understands.  We  are  treating 
of  life  in  the  spirit,  in  contradistinction  to  life 
in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  term,  a  life 
that  finds  its  fullest  earthly  expression  in  an 
active  faith  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Revealer 
of  God  to  man,  in  conscious  communion  with 
the  Maker  and  Father  thus  revealed,  in  joy  in 
well-doing,  and  in  glad  anticipation  of  a  time 
to  come,  when  "  this  corruptible  "  shall  "  put 
on  incorruption,"  and  "•  this  mortal "  shall 
"  put  on  immortality."  ^  He  whose  regenera- 
tion is  thus  certified  to  himself  and  to  his  fellow 
believers  is,  to  use  the  recent  language  of  a 
well-known  American  writer  on  religious  themes, 
"  brought  into  loyal,  filial  relations  to  his  Father. 
He  receives,  by  the  direct  play  of  the  higher 
divine  nature  on  his  own,  a  new  and  divine  life, 
which  translates  and  transforms  him,  raises  him 

i  1  Corinthians  xv.  53. 


46  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

from  the  dead,  emancipates  him  from  his  old- 
time  bondage  unto  sin,  delivers  him  from  all 
fear  of  future  penalty,  redeems  him  from  all 
present  destruction,  and  unites  him  in  a  living 
relation  of  love  and  sympathy  to  his  God."  ^ 
Such,  as  we  interpret  it,  is  the  Scriptural  doc- 
trine of  regeneration,  without  having  mastered 
which  much  of  the  teaching  of  our  Lord  and 
His  Apostles  must  be  unintelligible  to  the 
student  of  the   New  Testament. 

But  now  something  should  be  said  of  con- 
version, both  because  of  its  relation  to  the  gen- 
eral subject  in  hand,  and  because  it  is  so  often 
confounded  with  regeneration,  or  the  "  birth 
from  above." 

Conversion  and  regeneration  are  not,  as  many 
suppose,  synonymous  terms.  The  one  is  from 
the  Latin  conversion  a  turniyig  around,  or  revolu- 
tion^ the  equivalent  of  which  in  Gieek  is  eVi- 
arpocj)}],  and  the  other  from  tlie  Latin  regene- 
ratio,  a  being  horn  again,  the  Greek  for  which 
is  TToXfyyeveo-La.  And,  not  being  synonymous, 
conversion  and  regeneration,  as  we  should  natur- 
ally infer,  are  not  used  synonymously  in  the  New 
Testament.     Whenever  a  change  of  opinion  or 

1  Lyman  Abbott.  D.D. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  47 

conduct  is  there  referred  to,  it  is  spoken  of  as 
a  conversion.  Thus,  for  example,  the  Evan- 
gelical historian  says  of  tlie  missionaries  Paul 
and  Barnabas,  as  they  wended  their  way  to 
Jerusalem  to  consult  the  brethren  there,  "  They 
passed  through  Phenice  and  Samaria,  declar- 
ing the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles."  ^  Thus, 
too,  Christ,  when  explaining  to  His  disciples 
why  He  speaks  to  the  multitude  in  parables, 
applies  to  the  latter  the  words  of  the  prophet 
Isaiah,  saying,  "  This  people's  heart  is  waxed 
gross,  and  their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and 
their  eyes  they  have  closed,  lest  at  any  time 
they  should  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with 
their  ears,  and  should  understand  with  their 
heart,  and  should  be  converted,  and  I  should 
heal  them."  2  On  the  other  hand,  the  quicken- 
ing within  one  of  a  life  that  means,  not  merely 
a  change  of  opinion  and  Conduct,  but  entrance 
into  higher  relations  with  God,  and  a  participa- 
tion, to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  in  the  privileges 

1  Ants  XV.  o.  This  is  the  only  place  in  the  New  Testament 
in  which  the  word  "  conversion  "  is  found. 

^  Matthew  xiii.  15.  The  verb  "  to  convert,"  in  its  various 
tenses,  occurs  also  in  the  following  passages  :  Mark  iv,  12 ; 
Luke  xxii.  32  ;  John  xii.  40;  Acts  xxviii.  27  ;  James  v.  19,  20. 
In  Matthew  xviii.  3,  wliere  Christ  says,  "  Except  ye  be  con- 
verted," etc.,  the  Greek  verb  signifies  only  to  turn. 


48  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

of  Christ's  Kingdom,  is  spoken  of  under  the 
figure  of  a  re-birth,  or  re-creation,  as  in  the  gen- 
eral passage  before  us,  and  in  Saint  Paul's  Epistle 
to  Titus,  where  he  says,  "  But  after  that  the 
kindness  and  love  of  God  our  Saviour  toward 
man  appeared,  not  by  works  of  righteousness 
which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  His 
mercy  He  saved  us,  by  the  washing  of  regenera- 
tion and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  which 
He  shed  on  us  abundantly  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Saviour ;  that  being  justified  by  His  grace, 
we  should  be  made  heirs  according  to  the  hope 
of  eternal  life."  ^ 

Bearing  in  mind,  then,  the  distinction  be- 
tween conversion  and  regeneration,  which,  as 
w^e  have  seen,  is  one  that  the  New  Testament 
writers  are  very  careful  to  make,  Ave  observe,  — 

1.  First,  that  a  converted  man  is  not  of  ne- 
cessity a  regenerated  man.  After  much  mental 
travail,  he  may  have  come  to  believe  in  Christi- 
anity as  a  revelation  from  God,  and  to  an  api)re- 
ciable  exlent  his  conduct  may  reflect  his  belief; 
but  still  it  does  not  follow  that  he  has  been 
"  born  fiom  above."  The  higher  life  ma}'  not 
yet  have  been  generated  within  him,  so  that,  to 

1  iii.  4-7.     Viile  also  1  Peter,  i.  23. 


THE   BIRTH   FROM  ABOVE.  49 

use  an  expressive  Pauline  phrase,  he  may  not, 
strictly  speaking,  be  ''  a  fellow  citizen  with  the 
saints,  and  of  the  household  of  God."  ^ 

2.  We  observe,  also,  that  a  man  may  pass 
through  a  series  of  conversions,  now  embracing 
this  S3"stem  of  belief,  and  now  that,  as  his  opin- 
ions happen  to  change.  The  average  person 
may  not  fluctuate  in  this  way ;  but  such  fluctua- 
tions are  far  from  being  rare.  We  have  in  mind 
one  of  the  most  original  thinkers  and  vigorous 
philosophical  writers  our  country  has  produced, 
who  conspicuously  illustrated  the  point  in  ques- 
tion.2  In  his  nineteenth  year  he  joined  the 
Presbyterian  denomination,  but  a  few  years 
later  became  a  Universalist  minister.  Then  he 
drifted  into  scepticism,  and  became  a  follower 
of  Robert  Owen,  and  of  the  equally  erratic 
Frances,  or  Fanny,  Wright.  After  a  while  he 
studied  the  works  of  William  Ellery  Channing, 
and  for  a  time  was  settled  over  a  Unitarian  so- 
ciety in  Boston.  But  he  did  not  remain  a  Uni- 
tarian. Again  taking  up  his  nomadic  march,  he 
finally  pitched  his  tent  among  the  Roman  Cath- 
olics, to  be  recognized  at  length  as  one  of  their 
strongest  apologists,  and  the  founder  of  a  philo- 

1  Ephesians  ii.  19.  2  The  late  Orestes  A.  Brownson. 

4 


60  THE   BIRTH   FROiM  ABOVE. 

sophical  system  that  attracted  so  much  attention, 
that  he  was  invited  to  a  chair  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  university  at  Dubhn.  Thus  he  under- 
went at  least  five  distinct  conversions,  or  turn- 
ings around,  the  last  of  which  would  seem 
to  have  been  permanent,  for  he  died  in  the 
communion  of  Rome  years  after  his  reception 
into  it. 

3.  And,  still  again,  we  observe,  that  even  one 
who  has  been  regenerated  may  be  converted,  or 
turned  around.  For  instance,  without  ceasing 
to  be  a  believer  in  the  Divine  origin  and  mission 
of  Christianity,  his  opinions  on  certain  doctrinal 
points  may  undergo  so  great  a  change  that  he 
may  feel  compelled  to  leave  one  communion 
for  another.  Or  he  may  fall  from  the  faith 
altogether,  his  fall  being  accompanied  by  a 
moral  lapse  most  sorrowful  to  contemplate  ;  and 
then,  in  the  end,  he  may  be  re-converted,  and 
thenceforward  live  a  most  exemplary  life.  The 
fact  that  one  has  been  regenerated  makes  such 
changes,  as  far  as  grievous  errors  and  lapses 
from  righteousness  are  concerned,  less  likely ; 
but  it  does  not  make  them  impossible.  For, 
while  regeneration  means  the  birth  within  one 
of  a  divine  life,  it  is  no  guarantee  that  one's  re- 


THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  51 

ligious  opinions  will  always  remain  the  same,  or 
that  he  will  never  succumb  to  temptation.  He 
is  still  a  fallible  mortal,  and  therefore  needs  to 
pray  for  grace  that  he  may  keep  in  the  way  of 
truth,  and  hold  fast  to  the  faith,  and  resist  the 
allurements  of  sin.  ♦ 

Conversion,  then,  is  not  the  synonyme  of  re- 
generation, and  hence  the  two  terms  should  be 
used  with  discrimination.  Conversion,  we  re- 
peat, means  a  turning  around  of  the  mind  or  the 
heart,  and  regeneration,  a  re-hirtli  or  re-creation. 
Furthermore,  as  has  been  shown,  one  may  be 
converted  several  times,  and  even  after  he  has 
been  regenerated.  But  how  about  regenera- 
tion? Is  that  a  process  that  may  be  several 
times  repeated?  Not  if  we  correctly  appre- 
hend its  meaning.  As  one  can  be  born  only 
^once  in  the  .flesh,  so,  we  must  think,  he  can  be 
born  only  once  in  the  spirit.  The  life  with 
which  he  is  thus  royally  endowed  may  suffer  so 
much  through  neglect  as  to  need  revival  and 
careful  nursing  to  make  it  vigorous  and  fruitful ; 
but  this  is  not  to  say  that  one  has  been  re-born 
of  the  Spirit.  Such  a  birth  has  already  taken 
place,  and  there  is  nothing  to  warrant  belief 
that  it  ever  occurs  ag^ain.     It  is  somethinor  that 


52  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

has  been  done  once  and  for  all,  and,  having  be- 
come an  accomplished  fact,  the  changes  it  may 
undergo  for  worse  or  for  better  indicate  a  de- 
cline in  or  a  restoration  to  health.  Thus  re2"en- 
eration  means  vastl}^  more  than  conversion  does, 
—  entrance,  *in  fine,  into  that  eternal  life  of 
which  our  Lord  so  often  speaks,  a  life  in  com- 
parison with  which  that  in  the  senses  is  as 
nothing,  and  without  which  the  prospect  of 
never-ending  existence  in  the  soul  would  be 
shorn  of  its  fairest  attractions. 

Let  no  one  infer,  however,  that  we  deny  that 
the  Hol}^  Spirit  ever  has  part  in  conversion. 
On  the  contrary,  we  rejoice  in  the  belief  that 
the  grace  and  power  of  God  are  often  signally 
revealed  in  the  changes  that  men's  opinions, 
feelings,  and  conduct  undergo.  As  regenera- 
tion is  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  so,  too,  a 
conversion  of  mind  or  heart  may  be,  thus  proph- 
esying an  approaching  ''  birth  fiom  above," 
or  witnessing  to  the  loving  desire  of  tlie  Spirit 
that  the  life  beginning  with  such  a  birth  may 
not  languish  through  disease. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  53 

X.  —  Illustrative  Examples. 

The  story  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  may  be  cited  in 
illustration  of  the  truth  of  which  we  speak  ;  for 
if  any  event  in  New  Testament  history,  after 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  be  entitled  to 
belief,  it  is  that  of  the  conversion  of  this  remark- 
able man,  and  in  the  manner  narrated  both  by 
himself  and  the  author  of  the  Book  of  the  Acts. 
In  him  we  have  one  whose  testimony  in  this  re- 
lation is  of  the  highest  value.  Well-educated, 
distinguished  for  common-sense  and  intellectual 
acumen  and  withal  a  man  whose  integrity  will 
not  be  questioned,  he  may  be  accepted  as  a 
competent  witness,  and  treated  accordiugly. 
And  what  does  he  say  ?  That  "  after  the  most 
straitest  sect  "  of  the  Jews,  he  had  "  lived  a 
Pharisee,"  thinking  that  he  "  ought  to  do  many 
things  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth," and  laying  a  heavy  hand  upon  tlie  follow- 
ers of  the  Crucified.  Yet,  going  to  Damascus, 
'^  with  authority  and  commission  from  the  chief 
priests,"  to  harry  the  Christians  there,  he  was 
suddenly  arrested  in  his  course,  and  changed 
from  a  persecutor  into  a  believer,  to  become  in 
time  the  ablest  defender  and  exponent  of  the 


54  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

Gospel  that  the  Church  of  Christ  has  known. ^ 
Listen  to  his  words  to  Agrippa  :     ''At  midday, 

0  king,  I  saw  in  the  way  a  light  from  heaven, 
above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  shining  round 
about  me  and  them  which  journeyed  with  me. 
And  when  we  were  all  fallen  to  the  earth,  I 
heard  a  voice  speaking  unto  me,  and  saying  in 
the  Hebrew  tongue,  Saul,  Saul,  wliy  persecutest 
thou  me  ?  it  is  hard  for  thee  to  kick  against  the 
pricks.  And  I  said.  Who  art  thou.  Lord?  And 
he  said,  I  am  Jesus  whom  thou  persecutest.  But 
rise,  and  stand  upon  thy  feet :  for  I  have  appeared 
unto  thee  for  this  purpose,  to  make  thee  a  min- 
ister and  a  witness  both  of  these  things  which 
thou  hast  seen,  and  of  those  things  in  the  which 

1  will  appear  unto  thee  ;  delivering  thee  from 
the  people,  and  from  the  Gentiles,  unto  whom 
now  I  send  thee,  to  open  their  eyes,  and  to  turn 
them  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power 
iof  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  may  receive  forgive- 
ness of  sins,  and  inheritance  among  them  wdiich 
are  sanctified  by  faith  that  is  in  me.  Where- 
upon, O  king  Agrippa,  I  was  not  disobedient 
unto  the  heavenly  vision  :  but  showed  first  unto 
them    of  Damascus,   and     at    Jerusalem,  and 

1  Acts  xxvi.  4-12. 


THE   BIRTH   FROM  ABOVE.  55 

throughout  all  the  coasts  of  Judea,  and  then  to 
the  Gentiles,  that  they  should  repent  and  turn 
to  God,  and  do  works  meet  for  repentance."  ^ 
Here  we  have  the  story  of  a  genuine  conver- 
sion, of  a  complete  turning  around^  which  cannot 
be  adequately  accounted  for  on  purely  natural 
grounds,  and  which,  both  in  what  preceded 
and  followed  it,  proclaims  the  power  of  the 
Spirit.  It  is  difficult  not  to  feel  that  the  martyr- 
dom of  Saint  Stephen,  to  which  the  proud  Phar- 
isee had  been  "  consenting,"  ^  niade  a  profound 
impression  upon  him  ;  and  dilBcult,  too,  it  is 
not  to  feel  that  daring  his  journey  to  Damascus 
the  remembrance  of  the  martyr's  words  and 
bearing  awakened  many  strange  and  troublous 
thoughts.  He  was  bound  for  that  city  on  a 
persecutor's  errand ;  but  the  Holy  Spirit  was 
secretly  guiding  him  thither,  and  was  all  the 
time  preparing  for  the  moment  when  the  "  light 
from  heaven  "  should  shine  "  round  about  him," 
and  the  reproving  voice  of  the  glorified  Saviour 
should  be  heard.  And  the  work  of  the  Spirit 
may  also  be  seen  in  what  followed,  when,  aris- 
ing from  the  earth,   the  bewildered  man    was 

1  Acts  xxvi.  13-20.     Cf.  Acts  ix.  1-22,  xxii.  1-21. 
2  Ibid.  viii.  1. 


56  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

led  by  his  amazed  companions  into  the  city. 
For  "  three  days  "  he  was  "  without  sight,  and 
neither  did  eat  nor  drink  ;"  ^  during  which 
time,  we  infer,  he  was  gradually  coming  to  him- 
self, and  made  to  realize  what  manner  of  man 
he  had  been,  and  what  was  thenceforth  de- 
manded of  him.  Then  at  last  fully  converted, 
his  sight  was  restored,  and  admitted  to  baptism 
he  stood  forth  among  the  rejoicing  brethren, 
''  a  new  creature  [or  creation]  in  Christ."  In 
other  words,  he  was  now  known  to  his  new  as- 
sociates both  as  a  convert  to  the  Gospel  and  as  a 
regenerated  man,  one  who  believed  that  Jesus 
was  the  Christ,  and  more  than  that,  one  in  whose 
nature  the  love  of  the  Saviour  had  taken  root, 
causing  him  to  feel  that  it  was  his  bounden 
duty  to  give  himself,  body  and  soul,  to  the  ser- 
vice of  his  Ascended  Lord,  and  spread  His  truth 
among  men. 

Another  striking  illustration  of  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  conversion  may  be  found 
in  the  life  of  the  great  Augustine,  of  Hippo. 
Born  of  a  heathen  father  and  a  Christian  mother, 
Augustine  early  displayed  those  intellectual 
gifts  that  were  to  make  him  the  greatest  thinker 

1  Acts  ix.  9. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  57 

of  his  age,  and  one  of  the  brightest  lights  that 
have  adorned  the  Christian  Church.  But  for 
years  his  life  was  irregular,  and  to  the  superficial 
observer  it  gave  no  promise  of  its  future  puri- 
fication. Still,  sinner  though  he  was,  he  was 
supremely  dissatisfied  with  himself,  and  was 
ever  seeking  peace.  Manicheism,  with  its  doc- 
trine of  warring  Light  and  Darkness  charmed 
him  for  a  time  ;  for  it  seemed  to  explain  the 
conflict  of  good  and  evil  that  was  ever  going 
on  within  him.  He  was  also  attracted  by 
the  severe  morality  it  professed,  and  would 
probably  have  closely  identified  himself  with 
its  fortunes,  had  he  not  discovered  that  it 
cloaked  a  most  shameful  hypocrisy.  Repelled, 
then,  from  Maniclieism,  he  took  refuge  in 
scepticism,  until,  going  to  Milan,  he  fell  under 
the  influence  of  the  high-souled  and  eloquent 
Ambrose.  Years  before  he  had  paid  some  at- 
tention to  Scripture,  and  now,  with  much  ardor, 
he  again  fell  to  studying  it.  But  though  he 
found  the  light  he  longed  for,  he  could  not  ob- 
tain the  mastery  of  himself,  and  his  unhappiuess 
daily  increased.  What  should  he  do?  What 
hope  was  there  that  he  could  ever  triumph  over 
the  propensities  that  were   continually  leading 


58  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

him  astray  ?  In  great  distress  of  soul,  he  one 
day  sought  the  retirement  of  a  garden,  and, 
with  his  face  streaming  with  tears,  cast  him- 
self down  under  a  fig-tree,  and  besought  God 
for  deliverance  from  the  crushing  burden  of  his 
sins.  *'  How  long?  how  long?  '  To-morrow  '  ?  " 
he  groaned,  "  why  not  now  ?  why  not  is  there 
this  hour  an  end  to  my  uncleanness  ?"  While 
thus  storming  Heaven  with  his  heart-broken 
cries,  he  heard  from  *'  a  neighboring  house  a 
voice,  as  of  boy  or  girl  .  .  .  chanting,  and  oft 
repeating,  *  Take  up  and  read ;  take  up  and 
read.'  "  Believing  that  God  had  spoken  through 
the  child,  he  returned  to  the  house  where  he. 
had  left  his  beloved  friend  Alypius,  and  open- 
ing at  random  the  Scripture  that  he  had  short- 
ly before  laid  aside,  his  eyes  fell  upon  the 
words  :  "  Not  in  rioting  and  drunkenness,  not 
in  chambering  and  wantonness,  not  in  strife 
and  envying  ;  but  put  ye  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  make  not  provision  for  the  flesh,  to 
fulfil  the  lusts  thereof."  ^  ''  No  further  would 
I  read,"  he  writes,  "nor  needed  I:  for  in- 
stantly at  the  end  of  this  sentence,  by  a  light 
as  it  were    of  serenity  infused  into  my  heart, 

1  Rom.  xiii.  13,  14. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  59 

all  the  darkness  of  doubt  vanished  away. " 
Alypius,  like  Augustine,  felt  that  God  had 
spoken,  and  with  joy  they  hurried  off  to  ac- 
quaint the  good  Monica,  Augustine's  mother, 
who  had  long  been  praying  for  her  son's  conver- 
sion, with  what  had  so  wonderfully  occurred. 
"  And  thou  didst  convert  her  mourning  into 
joy^^  says  Augustine.  She,  like  him,  felt  that 
at  last  her  prayers  had  been  answered  ;  and  on 
Easter,  the  following  year  (387),  the  work 
that  had  caused  Monica  to  leap  and  sing  for 
gladness  was  consummated,  as  the  humble  peni- 
tent and  happy  convert,  in  company  with  his 
friend  Alypius,  and  his  son  Adeodatus,  were 
admitted  to  baptism  by  the  godly  Ambrose,  and 
thus  received  into  the  visible  fold  of  Christ.^ 

The  story  of  the  conversion  of  Col.  James 
Gardiner,  who  fell,  in  1745,  at  the  battle  of 
Preston  Pans,  is  so  remarkable  that  even  the 
unbelieving  reader  must  be  struck  with  it. 
Gardiner,  a  Scottish  gentleman  of  birth,  who 
served  with  distinction  for  many  years  in  the 
British  army,  was  long  noted  for  the  dissolute- 
ness of  his  life.      He  had   been  carefully  edu- 

1  For  Augustine's  moving  narrative  of  his  conversion,  see 
his  "  Confessions,"  bk.  viii.  §§  28-30. 


60  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

cated  in  the  Christian  religion  by  a  pious  and 
most  excellent  mother,  and  would  seem  to  have 
been  at  times  sadly  conscious  of  his  degrada- 
tion. Dr.  Doddridge,  who  relates  his  history 
in  an  interesting  little  book,  much  prized  in 
the  last  century ,1  tells  us  that  when,  on  a  cer- 
tain occasion,  the  Colonel  was  congratulated 
b}^  some  of  his  boon  companions  on  the  felicity 
that  attended  his  courses,  a  dog  coming  into  the 
room  where  they  were,  he  "  could  not  forbear 
groaning  inwardl}^  and  saying  to  himself,  '  Oh, 
that  I  were  that  dog!'"  Like  Augustine,  he 
felt  that  the  heart  of  man  was  restless  until  it 
rested  in  God,^  and  wondered  if  he  should  ever 
be  able  to  live  in  accordance  with  the  law  of 
Christ.  One  Sunday  evening,  in  his  thirty- 
second  3"ear,  when  about  to  commit  a  great  sin, 
he  chanced  to  take  up  a  book  that  had  been 
slipped  into  his  portmanteau,  entitled  "  The 
Christian  Soldier,  or  Heaven  taken  by  Storm," ^ 

1  Some  Remarkable  Passages  in  the  Life  of  the  Hon.  Col. 
James  Gardiner,  etc.     First  publislied  in  1747. 

2  "  Thou  madest  us  for  Tiiyself,  and  our  heart  is  restless 
until  it  reposes  in  Thee." 

3  The  author  of  this  book,  Doddridge  says,  was  Mr.  Thomas 
Watson.  He  would  seem  to  have  been  one  of  the  Caroline 
divines  who  were  ejected  on  St.  Bartholomew's  Day,  1662, 
for  Nonconformity. 


THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  61 

and,  thinking  to  be  amused,  he  opened  it,  and 
began  carelessly  to  peruse  it.  Before  long,  how- 
ever, "  he  thought  he  saw,"  says  his  biographer, 
"  an  unusual  blaze  of  light  fall  on  the  book," 
and,  "  lifting  up  his  eyes,  he  apprehended,  to 
his  extreme  amazement,  that  there  was  before 
him,  as  it  were,  suspended  in  the  air,  a  visible 
representation  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  upon 
the  cross,  surrounded  on  all  sides  with  a  glory  ; 
and  was  impressed,  as  if  a  voice,  or  something 
equivalent  to  a  voice,  had  come  to  him  to  this 
effect,  for  he  was  not  confident  as  to  the  very 
words,  '  Oh,  sinner  I  did  I  suffer  this  for  thee, 
and  are  these  the  returns?'"^  Overcome  with 
awe,  fear,  and  shame,  the  Colonel  sank  back 
in  his  chair  and  lapsed  into  insensibility  ;  and 
when  he  recovered  consciousness,  the  vision,  if 
such  it  was,  had  vanished. 

Now,  whether  we  insist  or  not,  as  so  many 
have  naturally  insisted,  that  the  Colonel  was 
under  the  spell  of  a  powerful  hallucination, 
tliere  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  believed  that 
he  had  been  divinely  called  to  repentance. 
And,  vision  or  not,  we  do  not  doubt  that  he 
had  been  thus  called.  From  that  time  forward 
1  Doddridge's  Narrative,  Amer.  ed.  1795,  pp.  42,  43. 


62  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

he  was  a  changed  man.  He  abandoned  his  vi- 
cious ways,  gave  himself  to  the  study  and  prac- 
tice of  religion,  lived  a  most  exemphiry  life,  and 
fell  in  the  battle  aforesaid,  lamented  by  friend 
and  foe.^  The  Spirit,  after  years  of  striving 
with  him,  triumphed,  and  he  was  thoroughly 
converted  from  the  sins  that  had  so  long  held 
him  in  bondage.  The  life  from  above,  which, 
doubtless,  had  been  born  within  him  while  a 
child  —  for  he  had  been  given  to  the  Lord  in 
baptism  and  been  bred  a  Christian — but  which 
had  been  allowed  to  pine  for  want  of  food,  was 
revived  and  reinvigorated,  until  it  waxed  strong 
and  fair,  and  delighted  all  who  could  appreciate 
its  manliness  and  beauty. 

We  cannot  forbear  offering  still  another  illus- 
tration of  the  work  of  the  Spirit  in  conversion. 
It  is  one  that  we  owe  to  a  friend  in  whose  in- 
tegrity we  have  perfect  confidence,  and  who 
was  himself  the  actor  in  the  story  we  now 
relate. 

Mr.  G.,  as  we  shall  call  him,  had  been  brought 
up  religioush',  and  marrying  the  woman  of  his 

^  Any  one  curious  to  learn  more  about  this  remarkable 
conversion  should  consult  notes  4  and  32  appended  to  Sir 
Walter  Scott's  novel  of  "  Waverlej." 


THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  63 

love,  who  was  in  every  way  worthy  of  his  affec- 
tion, lived  for  some  years  an  orderly  and  useful 
life.  At  length,  however,  he  contracted  an  ap- 
petite ioY  strong  drink,  which,  though  he  never 
became  a  sot,  slowly  but  steadily  increased.  The 
result  was  that  he  began  to  lose  his  self-respect, 
grew  inattentive  to  his  vocation,  neglected  his 
religious  duties,  and  filled  the  heart  of  his  de- 
voted wife  with  grief  and  shame.  The  future 
looked  very  dark  to  her.  What  would  become 
of  the  husband  and  the  father,  saying  nothing 
about  herself  and  her  children,  unless  he  soon 
conquered  the  pernicious  habit  that  was  obtain- 
ing so  strong  a  hold  upon  him  ?  But  at  length 
the  succor  she  so  earnestly  desired  and  prayed 
for  came.  Late  one  afternoon,  Mr.  G.  ap- 
proached his  home,  so  much  under  the  influ- 
ence of  liquor  as  to  be  unsteady  in  his  gait,  and 
some  boys  who  were  playing  with  his  little  son 
before  the  door,  noticing  his  condition,  pointed 
their  fingers  at  him,  and  tauntingly  called  their 
companion's  attention  to  it.  This  the  father  re- 
marked, and  his  soul  sank  within  him.  It  had 
come  to  this,  then!  His  weakness  was  exciting 
comment,  and  his  innocent  child  must  suffer  on 
his  account!     Into  the  house  he  went,  too  much 


64  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

ashamed  to  look  the  anxious  wife  in  the  face; 
and  throughout  the  evening  he  sat  by  himself, 
moody  and  silent.  He  was  thinking  of  his  be- 
setting sin,  and  asking  himself  how  he  could 
master  it.  In  such  a  frame  of  mind  he  retired 
to  rest;  but  no  sleep  bathed  his  eyes.  Finally, 
arising  and  dressing  himself,  he  went  out  into 
the  garden  and  began  to  pray  for  help.  For 
an  hour  or  more,  he  said,  he  remained  there 
pouring  forth  his  penitence  in  prayer,  and  be- 
seeching Heaven  to  free  him  from  the  chains  of 
appetite.  After  a  while  peace  came  to  him.  A 
feeling  that  he  could  not  describe  took  posses- 
sion of  him.  Something  seemed  to  say,  "Your 
prayer  is  answered."  As  light  of  heart  as  a 
child,  he  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  going  to  a 
corner  of  the  garden  where  he  had  a  bottle  of 
liquor  secreted,  he  drew  it  forth  and  held  it  in 
his  hand.  He  had  not  the  slightest  desire  to 
taste  its  contents.  His  love  for  drink  had  van- 
ished, as  it  were,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye. 
"And  I  broke  the  bottle,"  he  said,  ''and  re- 
turned to  the  house  another  man  ;  and  from 
that  hour  I  have  not  touched  a  drop  of  alco- 
hol." It  was  some  years  after  this  incident 
when  he  narrated  it  to  us.      He  was   then   an 


THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  65 

esteemed  member  of  the  community  in  which 
he  resided,  a  regular  attendant  at  Holy  Com- 
munion, and  the  efficient  superintendent  of  a 
Sunday  School.  Through  the  power  of  the 
Spirit  he  had  been  won  from  a  vice  which  had 
threatened  to  destroy  him.  So,  at  least,  he  be- 
lieved, and  so  we  have  always  believed.  With 
the  light  of  Scripture  and  Christian  experience 
to  guide  us,  we  can  in  no  other  way  interpret 
the  change  that  our  friend  underwent. 

After  such  testimony  as  the  foregoing,  we 
find  it  difficult  to  doubt  that  the  agency  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  often  clearly  recognizable  in 
conversion.  As  in  the  first  two  instances,  con- 
version may  be  preliminary  to  regeneration,  — 
the  one,  in  fact,  following  the  other  so  rapidly 
as  to  seem  almost  concurrent  with  it, — or,  as 
in  the  case  of  Col.  Gardiner  and  Mr.  G.,  con- 
version may  mean  a  restoration  to  moral  and 
spiritual  health  after  a  long  illness,  from  which, 
for  a  time,  there  seemed  to  be  little  prospect  of 
recovery. 


66  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

XL  — The  Secret  Work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

We  have  seen  how  the  work  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  in  man  may  often  be  traced  with  much 
definiteness.  It  should  now,  however,  be  re- 
marked that  in  many  and  perhaps  the  large 
majority  of  cases,  that  work  is  done  so  secretly 
that  one  may  be  unconscious  of  what  is  going 
on  within  him.  He  may  have  no  *'  experi- 
ence," as  some  call  it,  to  attest  the  fact  that 
he  -  has  been  "  born  from  above,"  or  that  the 
life  thus  generated  has  been  revived  by  fresh 
effusions  of  grace.  All  that  he  can  sa}^  is,  that 
he  is  not  what  he  once  was,  —  spirituall}*  igno- 
rant, or  coldly  indifferent  to  the  truth,  living 
wholly  unto  himself,  or  carelessly  indulging  in 
sins  and  vices  that  now  he  loathes  and  shuns. 
An  undeniable  change  has  gradually  come  over 
him,  a  change  that  causes  him  to  glorify  God, 
and  consciousness  of  which  incites  him  to  ap- 
ply himself  with  increasing  diligence  to  the 
business  of  the  disciple  ;  but  he  is  unable  to 
tell  us  when  that  change  began.  "  All  that  I 
know,"  he  says,  "  is,  that  once  I  did  not  think 
enough  about  God  to  love  Him,  and  that  now 


THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  67 

I  do  love  Him,  and  with  all  my  mind,  and  soul, 
and  strength ;  that  once  Christ  was  nothing  to 
me  but  an  historical  Personage,  and  that  now 
I  regard  Him  as  the  One  '  altogether  lovely  ; ' 
that  once,  like  the  disciples  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist, I  had  '  not  so  much  as  heard  whether  there 
was  any  Holy  Ghost,'  ^  and  that  now  I  feel  the 
presence  of  the  Spirit  in  my  heart,  witnessing 
that  I,  too,  am  a  child  of  God  ;  and  that, 
whereas  once  I  cared  chiefly  for  myself,  and 
did  much  which  to-day  I  recall  with  sorrow, 
now  I  have  thought  for  my  brethren  every- 
where, and  am  desirous  of  conforming  my  life 
to  God's  reasonable  requirements."  Shall  we 
deny  that  such  a  person  has  been  "  born  from 
above,"  when  thus  we  have  sufficient  reason 
for  believing  that  he  has  been  so  born?  Why 
should  we?  He  brings  forth  of  the  "fruit  of 
the  Spirit;"  why,  then,  not  admit  that  the 
Spirit  has  visited  him,  although  in  so  quiet 
and  secret  a  manner  that  we  knew  not  that 
such  a  visit  had  been  paid  until  the  man's 
whole  bearing  and  conduct  began  to  proclaim 
that  glorious  fact? 

Or  take  such  a  case  as  this :  A  man  whose 
1  Acts  xix.  2. 


68  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

Christian  faith  and  character  are  bej^ond  ques- 
tion modestly  assures  us  that  he  cannot  re- 
member the  tiifie  when  he  did  not  in  some 
fashion  love  God,  Christ,  and  his  fellow-men. 
*'  I  was  taken  to  the  font  in  infancy,"  he  says. 
"As  soon  as  I  could  talk  my  mother  taught  me 
the  Lord's  Prayer.  I  was  bred  in  the  Church 
and  Sunday  School.  I  was  told  to  '  abhor  that 
which  is  evil,'  and  to  *  cleave  to  that  which  is 
good.'  I  have  never  had  serious  doubts  as  to 
the  existence  of  God  or  the  truth  of  the  Chris- 
tian Revelation.  I  have  ever  delighted  in  at- 
tending Divine  eervice,  and  have  ever  found 
pleasure  and  profit  in  reading  Hol}^  Scripture. 
Of  course  I  have  done  wrong,  for  I  am  human. 
I  am  keenly  conscious  that  I  am  not  free  from 
sin;  and  therefore  I  feel  that  there  is  large 
room  for  improvement  in  me.  But,  to  be  frank 
with  you,  I  must  admit  that  I  have  never  expe- 
rienced what  some  of  my  friends  call  '  conver- 
sion,' save  that  I  have  often  been  made  deeply 
sensible  of  tlie  wrongness  of  some  act  or  state 
of  feeling,  and  have  heartily  repented  of  it.  If 
I  have  not  been  regenerated,  then  God  grant 
that  I  soon  may  be  !  but  I  humbly  trust  that 
I  have  been,  although  I  am  by  no  means  sat- 


THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  69 

isfied  with  myself,  and  daily  and  nightly  praj 
that  I  may  grow  in  grace  and  in  knowledge  of 
the  Lord."  Now,  what  shall  we  say  about  a 
case  like  this,  which  we  know  is  not  an  uncomr 
mon  one?  Shall  we  insist  that  such  a  man  has 
not  been  "born  from  above,"  simply  because  the 
Spirit  has  never  come  to  him  in  "  demonstra- 
tion "  and  in  "power,"  but  so  quietly  as  to  en- 
ter in  without  knocking,  and  to  abide  within 
a  long  time  before  the  master  of  the  house 
knew  that  a  Heavenly  Visitor  was  present? 
God  forbid !  We  have  what  we  must  regard 
as  an  ample  proof  that  this  friend  and  brother 
has  been  "  born  from  above  ; "  and  with  that 
proof  we  should  rest  content. 

Hence,  to  men  like  these  of  whom  we  have 
been  speaking,  we  feel  constrained  to  say.  Do. 
not  be  troubled  because  your  religious  experi- 
ence has  been  different  from  that  of  many  others. 
If  you  have  been  given  to  God  in  baptism,  and 
have  been  steadily  growing  in  the  Christian  life, 
be  meekly  thankful  that  such  is  the  fact,  and 
earnestly  strive  to  increase  in  faith  and  right- 
eousness. Beware  of  spiritual  complacency ; 
think  not  that  you  are  what  you  should  be,  and 
with  Divine  help  may  become  ;  but  be  not  dis- 


70  THE   BIRTH   FROM   ABOVE. 

couraged  and  cast  down  because  it  has  not  been 
with  you  in  spiritual  things  as  it  has  been  with 
some  with  whom  you  are  wont  to  converse. 
The  ways  of  the  Spirit  are  diverse  and  manifold. 
No  two  Christian  men  have  precisely  the  same 
experience  to  relate.  If  you  have  the  witness 
of  the  Church  that  you  have  been  "born  of 
water,"  and  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  that  you 
have  been  "  born  of  the  Spirit,"  what  more  can 
you  ask  or  desire  than  that  you  may  be  given 
grace  to  improve  God's  highest  gift,  and  do 
the  works  of  obedient  and  loving  disciples? 
Remarks  the  Rev.  Fredeiick  W.  Robertson :  ^  — 

"  Men  of  enthusiastic  temperaments,  chiefly  men 
whose  lives  have  been  irregular,  whose  religion  has 
come  to  them  suddenly,  interpreting  all  cases  by  their 
own  experiences,  have  said  that  the  exercise  of  God's 
Spirit  is  ever  sudden  and  supernatural,  and  it  has 
seemed  to  them  that  to  try  and  brinf;  up  a  child  for 
God,  in  the  way  of  education,  is  to  bid  defiance  to  that 
Spirit  which  is  like  the  wind,  '  blowing  where  it  Usteth,' 
and  if  a  man  cannot  tell  the  day  or  hour  when  he  was 
converted,  to  those  persons  he  does  not  seem  to  be  a 
Christian  at  all.  He  may  be  holy,  humble,  loving ; 
but  unless  there  is  a  visible  manifestation  of  how  and 
when  he  was  changed,  he  must  be  still  ranked  as  unre- 

*  Sermon  xi.    Fourth  series. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  71 

generate.  ...  In  our  life  there  is  a  time  in  which  our 
spirit  has  gained  the  mastery  over  the  flesh  ;  it  is  not 
important  to  know  when,  but  whether  it  has  taken 
place." 

XII.  Times  of  Spiritual  Awakening. 

In  treating  of  the  work  and  ways  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  it  would  be  a  grave  omission  to  say 
nothing  of  what, may  be  called  times  of  spirit- 
ual awakening.  That  there  have  been  times  in 
the  history  of  the  Gospel,  when  the  presence 
and  power  of  the  Spirit  have  been  specially 
manifested,  no  thoughtful  and  believing  student 
of  that  history  will  deny.  We  do  not  agree 
with  many  in  their  interpretation  of  certain 
accompaniments  of  some  awakenings  in  modern 
times  ;  where  they  are  convinced  that  they  be- 
hold the  operations  of  the  Spirit,  we  are  equally 
convinced  that  we  behold  the  workings  of  de- 
lusion, of  unhealthy  excitement,  and  occasion- 
ally, even  of  madness ;  yet  none  will  assent 
more  unhesitatingly  than  we  to  the  proposition 
that  not  only  has  the  Holy  Spirit  been  present 
with  Christ's  people  from  the  beginning,  but 
that  there  have  been  times  when  that  consoling 
and    inspiring  fact    has   been   grandly  demon- 


72  THE   BIRTH   FROM   ABOVE. 

strated  to  all  who  have  had  ej^es  with  which  to 
see,  and  ears  with  which  to  hear. 

It  was  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  the  day  com- 
memorated under  the  beautiful  and  expressive 
name  of  Whit-Sunday,  or  White  Sunday,  that 
the  first  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  on  the  Church 
occurred.  Ten  days  had  passed  since  the  Lord 
Jesus  had  been  received  up  into  glory,  and  the 
disciples,  having  returned  to  Jerusalem,  "  were 
all  with  one  accord  in  one  place,"  ^  waiting  for 
the  coming  of  the  promised  Paraclete,  or  Com- 
forter. On  the  eve  of  His  passion,  the  Master 
had  said  to  His  sorrowing  companions :  ''  If 
3^e  love  me,  keep  my  commandments.  And  I 
will  pray  the  Father,  and  He  shall  give  you 
another  Comforter,  that  He  may  abide  with 
you  forever  ;  even  the  Spirit  of  truth  ;  whom 
the  world  cannot  receive,  because  it  seeth 
Him  not,  neither  knoweth  Him ;  but  ye  know 
Him ;  for  He  dwelleth  with  you,  and  shall  be 
in  you."  2  And  the  promise  thus  made  had 
been  repeated  on  the  eve  of  Christ's  ascension, 
when,  knowing  that  their  Lord  was  about  to 
leave  them,  the  disciples  were  wondering  how 

1  Acts  ii.  1. 

2  John  xiv.  15-17.      Vide  ibid. v.  26,  and  xvi.  7-14. 


THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  73 

they  were  to  do  their  appointed  work  without 
the  support  of  His  visible  presence,  and  the 
guidance  of  His  audible  voice.  Then  were 
they  commanded  not  to  "  depart  from  Jerusa- 
lem, but  wait  for  the  promise  of  the  Father, 
which,"  continued  their  Leader, ''  ye  have  heard 
of  Me.  For  John  truly  baptized  with  water  ; 
but  ye  shall  be  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
not  many  days   hence."  ^ 

Such  were  the  time,  place,  and  purpose  of  the 
disciples'  meeting  on  the  occasion  referred  to ; 
and  then  and  there  it  was  that  the  promise  given 
them  was  wondrously  redeemed.  "And  sud- 
denly," writes  the  Evangelical  historian,  "  there 
came  a  sound  from  heaven  as  of  a  rushing  might}'" 
wind  and  it  filled  all  the  house  where  they  were 
sitting.  And  there  appeared  unto  them  cloven 
tongues  like  as  of  fire,  and  it  sat  upon  each  of 
them.  And  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  began  to  speak  with  other  tongues, 
as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance."  ^  AVhat 
followed  needs  hardly  to  be  recounted.  In  re- 
sponse to  the  question,  "  What  meaneth  tliis  ?  " 
and  in  refutation  of  the  mocking  assertion 
that  the  inspired    speakers  were  "  full  of  new 

1  Acts  i.  4-5.  2  ii,i(]  ii  2-4. 


74  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

wine,"  Peter,  as  the  spokesman  of  the  Apos- 
tolic company,  declared  that  the  ancient  proph- 
ecy had  been  fulfilled ,i  that  "  all  the  house 
of  Israel"  might  "know  assuredly,"  that  God 
had  made  "  that  same  Jesus,"  whom  they  had 
crucified,  "both  Lord  and  Christ." ^  The  Com- 
forter had  come ;  the  Holy  Spirit  was  with 
Christ's  people;  and  the  word  to  all  who  acknowl- 
edged the  Apostles  as  the  duly  commissioned 
servants  of  the  crowned  and  exalted  Saviour 
was,  "  Repent  and  be  baptized  every  one  of 
you  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  For  the  promise  is  unto  you,  and 
to  your  children,  and  to  all  that  are  afar  off, 
even  as  many  as  the  Lord  our  God  shall  call."  ^ 
The  result  was  that  "  about  three  thousand 
souls "  ^  were  that  day  added  to  the  infant 
Church,  and  the  age-lasting  campaign  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Light  against  the  Kingdom  of 
Darkness  began  with  a  great  and  most  aus- 
picious victory. 

Special  outpourings  of  the  Spirit  were  vouch- 
safed the  Apostolic  Church  from  that  time  for- 

1  Joel  ii.  28-32.  2  Acts  ii.  14-37.  ^  ibid.  38,  39. 

4  Ibid.  41. 


THE   BIRTH   FROM   ABOVE.  75 

ward,  confirming  the  teaching  of  her  leaders, 
and  renewing  their  strength  and  ardor  for  the 
mighty  work  in  hand.  ^  And  without  doubt, 
the  same  favors  were  repeatedly  granted  the 
successors  of  the  Apostles.  Says  the  learned 
Mosheim,  writing  of  the  rapid  propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  the  second  century  :  "  The  as- 
tonishing progress  thus  made  by  Chi'istianity, 
and  the  uninterrupted  series  of  victories  which 
it  obtained  over  the  ancient  superstitions,  are 
attributed  by  the  writers  of  those  days,  not  so 
much  to  the  zeal  and  diligence  of  those  who, 
either  in  conformity  to  what  they  considered 
as  a  divine  call,  of  their  own  accord  assumed 
the  office  of  teachers,  or  had  else  been  regu- 
larly appointed  thereto  by  the  bishops,  as  to 
the  irresistible  operations  of  the  Deity  acting 
through  them.  For,  according  to  these  au- 
thors, so  energetic  and  powerful  was  the  opera- 
tion of  divine  truth,  that  most  frequently,  upon 
its  being  simply  propounded,  without  entering 
either  into  proofs  or  arguments,  its  effects  on 
the  hearers'  minds  were  such  that  persons  of 
every  age,  sex,  and  condition,  became  at  once 
enamoured  of  its  excellence,  and  eagerly  rushed 

1  Acts  iv.  31-33;  viii.  14-17;  x.  44-48;  xi.  19-21. 


76  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

forward  to  embrace  it."  And  further  on  he 
says  :  "  That  this  was  the  case,  and  that  those 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  are  commonly 
termed  miraculous  were  liberally  imparted  by 
Heaven  to  numbers  of  the  Christians,  not  only 
in  this  but  likewise  in  the  succeeding  age,  has, 
on  the  faith  of  the  concurrent  testimony  of 
the  ancient  fathers,  been  hitherto  universally 
credited  throughout  the  Christian  world."  ^ 

The  testimony  of  the  ecclesiastical  chroniclers 
of  the  Dark  Ages  as  to  supernatural  occur- 
rences in  the  life  of  the  Church  is  not,  for 
reasons  that  need  not  be  given,  entitled  to  the 
same  consideration  as  that  of  the  fathers  just  re- 
ferred to  ;  and  yet  we  cannot  read  what  they  have 
recorded  concerning  the  progress  of  the  Gospel 
without  feeling  that  the  power  of  the  Spirit 
was  signally  displayed  in  the  results  of  the  con- 
secrated labors  of  men  like  Columba,  Augus- 
tine of  Canterbury,  and  Paulinus  ;  like  Aidan 
and  Cuthbert,  Wilfrid  and  Boniface.  What- 
ever errors  of  doctrine  these  devoted  and  untiring 
servants  of  Christ  may  be  thought  to  have 
inculcated,  it  is  difficult  not  to  believe  that  the 

1  History  of  Christianity.  Vidal  and  Murdock's  Transla- 
tion, N.  Y.  ed.     1854.     Vol.  i.,  pp.  277-279. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  77 

Spirit  was  with  them,  and  that  it  was  more 
by  the  power  of  the  Spirit  than  by  anything 
that  they  were  able  to  say  or  do  unaided,  that 
they  become  the  moral  conquerors  of  vast  mul- 
titudes of  rude,  benighted  souls. 

The  era  of  the  Reformation  was  one  of 
breaking  away  and  tearing  down,  of  bitter 
contention  and  bloody  strife,  when  some  of  the 
worst  and  most  destructive  passions  burst  into 
flame,  when  persecution  and  counter-persecution 
did  their  cruel  work  without  mercy  and  with- 
out remorse,  and  in  some  quarters  the  wildest 
fanaticism  raged  ;  and  yet  even  then  did  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  come  down  upon  thousands, 
arousing  them  from  their  apathy  and  sloth, 
and  causing  them  to  repent  and  bring  forth 
"  fruits  meet  for  repentance,"  enlightening 
their  eyes,  filling  them  with  unwonted  love 
for  Christ  and  His  truth,  and  so  strengthening 
their  hearts  that  many  a  formerly  weak  soul 
walked  as  serenely  to  the  block  or  to  the  stake 
as  to  a  festival.  On  no  purely  natural  grounds 
can  we  account  for  the  benign  change  that 
came  over  the  thoughts  and  affections  of  so 
many  in  that  age.  Dark  and  forbidding  as 
were   the  skies  that  then  lowered  over  West- 


78  THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

ern  Christendom,  their  gloom  was  ever  and  anon 
relieved  by  the  regenerating  fires  of  the  Spirit, 
as  they  descended  to  renew  the  face  of  the 
earth.  Even  Rome,  stoutly  opposed  as  she  was 
to  those  who  had  parted  company  with  her, 
received  something  of  the  Divine  effusion,  and 
stirred  and  energized  by  it,  became  more  active 
in  good  works  than  she  had  been  for  centuries. 
By  all  discerning  souls  it  was  felt  that  the  Spirit 
had  again  been  poured  out  upon  a  sinful  wgrld, 
causing  a  weary  winter  to  give  way  to  a  glad, 
prophetic  spring,  and  re-certifying  far  and  wide 
that  the  Gospel  was  ''  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation."  ^ 

Hardly  second  in  importance  to  the  Reform- 
ation, as  far  as  English-speaking  peoples  are 
concerned,  was  that  revival  of  the  last  century 
which  did  so  much  to  infuse  new  life  and  en- 
ergy into  the  English  Church  and  the  various 
bodies  that  had  separated  from  her.  Who  that 
believes  in  the  living  God  revealed  in  Jesus 
Christ  can  long  doubt  that  both  they  who 
adopted  the  name  of  Methodist^  bestowed  upon 
them  in  derision,  and  they  who  preferred 
that  of  Evangelical,  and,  unlike  the  majority 
,     1  Rom.  i.  16. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  79 

of  the  first-mentioned  school,  continued  to  re- 
main within  the  Mother  Church,  were  incited 
to  their  truly  Christian  labors  by  the  same 
Spirit  that  wrought  so  marvellously  at  Pente- 
cost ?  As  we  stud}^  the  literature  of  that  period, 
we  note  much  that  we  cannot  attribute  to  a 
Divine  source ;  the  progress  of  the  revival 
was  often  marked  by  an  intemperance  of  en- 
thusiasm offensive  alike  to  reason  and  sober 
piety ;  but  if  the  Holy  Spirit  has  ever  been 
manifested  since  Apostolic  times,  it  was  when 
Wesley  and  Whitefield,  Romaine  and  Newton, 
were  devoting  themselves  and  all  their  powers 
to  their  sacred  calling  as  ministers  of  Christ. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  years  have  flown  since 
that  famous  awakening  began  ;  and  its  influence 
is  still  felt  throughout  the  Anglo-Saxon  world. 
What  the  result  would  have  been  had  it  never 
occurred  can  only  be  conjectured  ;  but  it  may 
be  safely  affirmed  that  it  was  the  beginning  of  a 
new  era  both  for  the  Church  of  England  and  the 
communions  born  of  her,  and  one  that  declares, 
as  plainly  as  does  anything  in  modern  history, 
that  Christianity  is  of  God  and  that  supernatu- 
ral forces  are  ever  at  work  for  the  regeneration 
of  mankind. 


80  THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

As  long  as  sin  and  unbelief  remain,  so  long 
there  will  be  periods  resembling  those  that  we 
have  been  reviewing.  The  Spirit  never  sleeps, 
and  often,  when  we  least  suspect  it,  is  secretly 
accomplishing  the  most  important  and  endur- 
ing results  ;  yet  this  does  not  render  seasons  of 
special  manifestation  less  necessary.  Not  only 
does  the  Church  need  at  times  to  be  thorouglily 
aroused,  that  she  may  the  more  thoroughly  co- 
operate with  the  unseen  laborers  with  her,  but 
the  attention  of  the  worldly  and  the  scornful 
needs  to  be  suddenly  and  sharjjly  arrested  by 
the  play  of  forces  such  as  no  self-sufficient 
scepticism  and  no  sullen  and  dogmatic  materi- 
alism can  explain  away.  As  the  Day  of  Pen- 
tecost was  needed  to  proclaim  to  all  who  saw. 
and  heard  its  wonders  that  God  still  lived  and 
reigned,  so  similar  outpourings  are  needed  to 
declare  the  same  uplifting  fact,  meeting  the 
haughty  challenge  of  unbelief,  ''  Wliere  is  thy 
God?"^  and  gladdening  the  hearts  of  the  faith- 
ful with  the  assurance  that  they  are  not  less 
highly  favored  than  were  their  fathers  before 
them.  Hence  the  reader  can  understand  why  we 
confidently  look  for  the  coming  of  another  season 
1  Psalm  xlii.  3. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  81 

of  spiritual  awakening.  Unless  we  strangely 
misinterpret  the  signs  of  the  times,  such  a  sea- 
son is  rapidly  approaching,  and  is  even  near  our 
doors.  That  it  will  be  attended  by  errors  and 
extravagances  of  which  the  thoughtful  and  the 
quietly  devout  will  not  approve  is  altogether 
probable ;  that  methods  will  be  resorted  to 
which  will  work  more  mischief  than  benefit  is 
to  be  expected  ;  but  the  Church,  at  least  in 
many  quarters,  will  be  revived,  and  clothed 
afresh  with  strength  and  courage.  May  the 
communion  to  which  we  belong  partake  of  the 
blessings  of  the  coming  awakening.  It  will  not 
be  necessary  to  adopt  measures  and  practices 
that  our  sense  of  right  and  fitness  moves  us  to 
avoid ;  but  we  should  welcome  the  Spirit  in  the 
day  of  visitation,  and  help  all  we  can  to  add 
new  territory  to  the  visible  Kingdom  of  our 
Lord.  Alas  for  us  if  we  elect  to  do  otherwise  ! 
Such  a  choice  will  show  that  we  do  not  care  to 
have  part  in  the  work  of  subduing  the  world 
unto  Christ  ;  and  to  our  denomination,  as  to 
the  Babylonian  King,  the  stern  announcement 
will  be  made :   Thou   art  weighed  in  the 

BALANCES,   AND  ART   FOUND   WANTING  !  ^ 

1  Dan.  V.  27. 
6 


82  THE   BIRTH   FROM   ABOVE. 

XIII.  —  Privileges  of  the  Life  from 
Above. 

Returning  from  what  some  may  have  regarded 
as  a  digression  from  the  main  subject,  let  us  re- 
flect upon  the  privileges  of  those  who  have  been 
"  born  from  above."  For,  while  the  Spirit  is 
no  respecter  of  persons,  but  visits  the  lowly  as 
gladly  as  the  lofty,  and  the  unlettered  as  will- 
ingly as  the  learned,  certain  privileges  are  con- 
ferred upon  the  regenerate  that  cannot  be  too 
highly  prized. 

1.  Foremost  among  the  privileges  of  which 
we  speak  is  the  communion  of  the  Spirit. 
*'  The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
the  love  of  God,  and  the  communion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  says  Saint  Paul  to  his  brethren 
of  the  Church  at  Corinth,  "be  with  you  all."i 
What  is  this  communion?  The  answer  to  the 
question  has  been  in  part  anticipated  by  what 
we  have  said  of  the  inward  witness  that  the 
Spirit  bears  to  the  reality  of  the  life  from 
above,  and  by  our  remarks  on  the  nature  of 
regeneration .2  The  communion  of  the  Spirit 
is  precisely  what,  believing  in  a  Holy  Spirit, 

'  2  Cor.  xiii.  14.  ^  Vide  p.  52  et  seq.,  and  p.  64  et  seq. 


THE  BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  83 

we  should  suppose  it  to  be,  —  fellowship  with 
that  Spirit,  conscious  relations  with  the  Author 
of  spiritual  life,  sweet  intercourse  with  One  who 
does  not  disdain  to  be  the  constant  Friend  and 
Helper  of  the  poorest  of  His  children.  And 
what  rarer  privilege  can  there  be  than  this? 
What  would  be  confidential  intercourse  with 
the  greatest  monarch,  or  the  mightiest  genius, 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  compared  with  daily 
and  nightly  communion  with  Him  who  made 
us,  and  who,  by  His  Spirit,  lovingly  draws  nigh 
unto  the  soul  that  filially  draws  nigh  unto  Him? 
Such  is  one  of  the  privileges  of  him  who  has 
been  "  born  from  above."  Not  only  does  he 
spiritually  know  that  there  is  a  God,  but  he 
feels  that  he  is  in  the  immediate  presence  of 
Him  before  whom,  as  they  behold  the  un- 
created glory  with  which  He  clothes  Himself, 
archangels  bow  their  faces  in  humblest  adora- 
tion. Nor  is  this  all.  He  is  permitted  to  ad- 
dress this  Being,  with  the  assurance  that  not  so 
much  as  a  sigh  escapes  him  that  is  not  heard 
by  an  all-sympathetic  Ear,  to  be  answered  by 
a  Voice  whose  slightest  accents  flood  the  cham- 
bers of  the  soul  with  music.  He  does  not  boast 
himself  of  the  favors  thus  vouchsafed  him,  nor 


84  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

does  he  presume  to  think  that  he  has  been  pre- 
ferred before  his  fellows,  and  endowed  with  a 
knowledge  and  a  power  that  they  can  never 
share.  He  feels  only  this:  that  he  has  expe- 
rienced for  himself  the  meaning  of  the  phrase, 
"  the  communion  of  the  Spirit,"  and  that  it 
symbolizes  blessings  that  human  language  can 
never  express.  His  feeling,  in  line,  is  that  of 
the  Mediaeval  writer,  who  has  enriched  relig- 
ious literature  with  one  of  the  noblest  produc- 
tions that  ever  came  from  an  uninspired  pen, 
and  who  says  :  "  A  man  whose  soul  is  united 
to  Christ  in  fervent  love,  and  who  hath  freed 
himself  from  passions  and  worldly  solicitudes, 
this  man,  I  sa}^  is  as  it  were  spiritualized,  can 
have  recourse  to  God  without  distraction,  lives 
in  a  manner  by  and  \vithin  himself, — nay,  is 
raised  above  himself,  and  enjoys  heaven  while 
yet  upon  earth."  ^ 

2.  Another  privilege  of  one  who  has  been 
''  born  from  above,"  is  active  citizenship  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  He  knows  that  there  is  such 
a  kingdom,  and  that  as  a  Christian  he  is  iden- 
tified with  its  affairs.      He   is  a  member  of  a 

^  De  Imitatione  Christi.  Stanhope's  Translation.  Lond. 
1809.    p.  76. 


THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  85 

Divine  Society  which  includes  the  innumerable 
throngs  who  have  worn,  or  still  wear,  the  gar- 
ments of  mortality,  and  who,  united  to  Christ, 
are  striving  for  the  redemption  of  the  race,  — 
''  the  glorious  company  of  the  Apostles,"  "  the 
goodly  fellowship  of  the  Prophets,"  "  the  no- 
ble army  of  Martyrs,"  and  ''  the  Holy  Churchi 
throughout  all  the  world."  He  may  be  well- 
nigh  penniless,  and  so  obscure,  that,  should  he' 
die  to-morrow,  not  a  score  of  persons  would 
miss  him  from  the  streets;  but  still,  as  a  citi- 
zen of  the  Heavenly  Kingdom,  his  rank  is  the 
highest  known  to  earth.  Princes  and  nobles 
cannot  take  precedence  of  him  in  this  respect. 
When  he  approaches  the  altar  of  Christ  he  is 
on  an  equality  with  any  one  who  may  appear 
before  it.  He  is  more  tlian  a  member  of  this 
or  that  nation,  —  he  belongs  as  well  to  a  nation 
embracing  men  of  every  clime  and  race.  Wher- 
ever the  Cross  has  been  planted  fellow-citizens, 
of  his  are  gathered.  The  language  that  he  hears 
may  be  unintelligible  to  him  ;  they  with  whom 
he  mingles  may  differ  from  him  in  color,  dress>. 
and  manners;  but  if  they  be  in  the  true  sense 
Christians,  they  are  his  brethren,  members  of 
the  same   Kingdom,  being  of  ''  the  household 


86  THE  BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

of  God."  ^  Some  spots  are  naturally  dearer  to 
him  than  others;  his  native  or  adopted  flag  has 
claims  upon  him  that  he  does  not  wish  to  dis- 
allow ;  but,  spiritually  speaking,  wherever  the 
Church  of  Christ  is  found,  there  is  his  mother- 
land, and  wherever  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  are 
set  forth,  there  he  is  at  home. 

This,  then,  is  the  Kingdom  of  which  he  who 
has  been  ''born  from  above"  is  privileged  to 
call  himself  a  citizen ;  and  in  the  saving  work 
of  this  Kingdom  he  is  privileged  to  share. 
Humble  as  may  be  his  calling,  and  ordinary  as 
may  be  his  mental  attainments,  he,  too,  can  do, 
and  is  doing,  something  to  hasten  the  coming  of 
the  age  when  God  shall  be  "  all  in  all."  ^  He 
is  a  soldier,  enlisted  under  the  lordliest  banner 
that  is  kissed  by  the  winds  of  morning.  The 
most  illustrious  victories  that  history  records 
have,  with  the  help  of  God,  been  achieved  by 
those  who  have  rallied  around  that  banner. 
The  Captain  of  the  host  in  which  he  marches 
knows  his  name,  and  prizes  his  obedience. 
Some  day  he  must  fall  in  the  fight,  and  another 
will  take  his  place  ;  but  the  holy  war  will  still 
be  prosecuted,  and  he,  though  in  a  higher  way, 
1  Epli.  ii.  19.  2  1  Cor.  xv.  28. 


THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE.  87 

will  continue  to  have  part  in  it,  until,  as  a  glori- 
fied spirit,  he  beholds  it  brought  to  a  triumphant 
conclusion,  and  ''at  the  name  of  Jesus"  every 
knee  is  bowed,  "  of  things  in  heaven,  and  things 
in  earth,  and  things  under  the  earth,"  and  every 
tongue  confesses  that  "  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to 
the  glory  of  God  the  Father."  i 

3.  We  have  suggested  still  another  privilege 
of  one  who  has  been  "  born  from  above,"  when 
we  think  of  the  power  of  spiritual  perception 
he  enjoys,  especially  if  he  has  prayerfully  de- 
veloped the  gift  of  God.  Many  may  excel  him 
in  this  respect;  yet  in  comparison  with  him 
thousands  upon  thousands  are  blind. 

(1)  In  the  first  place,  one  who  is  spiritually 
active  divines  more  accurately  than  he  other- 
wise would  the  essential  meaning  of  Scripture. 
He  is  not  an  infallible  interpreter  ;  but  radiance 
streams  out  from  many  a  passage  that  formerly 
was  darkness  to  him.  At  least  this  is  true  of 
him  unless  he  be  naturally  deficient  in  power 
of  reflection.  Not  only  do  the  mountain  peaks 
of  Revelation  stand  out  more  clearly  against  the 
background  of  eternity,  but  valleys,  where  once 
he  saw  only  deepening  shadows,  grow  lighter  to 

1  Phil.  ii.  10,  11. 


88  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

his  searclriiig  eye.  For  this  reason,  much  as 
he  may  be  wanting  in  scholarship,  he  ma}^  for 
practical  purposes,  be  a  better  exegete  than 
many  a  man  that  might  be  named,  who,  with 
all  the  knowledge  and  discipline  obtainable  in 
celebrated  schools,  has  given  years  to  the  study 
of  the  Word.  Let  him  only  be  assured  that  he 
has  before  him  an  approximately  correct  trans- 
lation of  the  Sacred  Text,  after  the  latter  has 
undergone  a  careful  recension,  and,  possessing 
common-sense  and  a  fair  acquaintance  with 
Scripture  as  a  whole,  he  will  be  a  more  reliable 
guide  for  the  ignorant  through  Biblical  realms 
than  scores  of  mere  scholars  who,  however 
large  their  learning,  are  spiritually  short-sighted. 
For  spiritual  short-sightedness  is  one  of  the 
chief  obstacles  in  the  way  of  Scriptural  inter- 
pretation. "  Spiritual  things,"  be  it  again  re- 
membered, must  be  "spiritually  discerned."^ 
The  books  of  the  Bible  are  more  than  so  much 
literature  ;  they  are  the  records  of  a  progressive 
Revelation,  and  as  such,  with  respect  to  their 
profounder  teachings,  they  need  to  be  studied 
by  minds  that  have  been  spiritually  illumined. 
(2)    As  it  is  with  such  a  man  with  respect  to 

1  1  Cor.  ii.  14. 


THE   BIRTH   FROM   ABOVE.  89 

Scripture,  so  it  is  with  respect  to  Nature.  To 
him  Nature  is  not  what  she  is  to  so  many,  —  a 
beautiful  but  dark  enigma.  There  is  a  great 
deal  about  her  that  he  would  not  think  of  trying 
to  fathom  ;  she  does  much  that  seems  inconsis- 
tent with  his  unshaken  belief  in  Eternal  Good- 
ness ;  but  she  does  not  appall  and  terrify  him, 
as  she  would  did  he  regard  her  with  the  eye 
of  the  materialist.  She  is  not  a  huge,  soulless 
machine,  governed  by  a  black-browed,  inexor- 
able Fate,  but  the  handiwork  of  the  God  and 
Father  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  "  maketh  His  sun 
to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth 
rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust."  ^  He  is 
sure  that,  could  he  only  read  the  Symbolic 
Word  lying  open  befoi-e  him  as  successfully  as 
he  does  the  Written  Word,  nothing  would  be 
disclosed  that  would  be  contrary  to  Scripture. 
And  one  great  reason  why  he  is  so  sure  on  this 
point  is  that  his  faculty  of  spiritual  perception 
enables  him  to  detect  in  Nature  the  action  and 
interaction  of  Divine  Forces  that  sing  her 
Blessed  Author's  praise.  He  sees  in  her  the 
operations  of  a  Being  to  whom  she  owes  all  her 
power,  grandeur,  and  beauty.     Benevolence,  as 

1  Matt.  V.  45. 


90  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

well  as  wisdom  and  might,  informs  her.  If  he 
set  himself  against  her,  she  will  sternly  rebuke 
and  punish  him,  and  even  though  he  be  inno- 
cent of  any  designs  against  her  peace,  she  may 
suddenly  and  most  unexpectedly  visit  him  and 
his  with  pain  and  death  ;  but  while  he  cannot 
explain  many  of  her  dealings  with  man,  he  is 
confident,  from  what  is  revealed  to  him,  that  all 
that  she  does  is  well  done.  The  higher  interests 
of  mankind  are  in  some  way,  however  mysteri- 
ously, subserved  ;  and  he  is  willing  to  bow  his 
head  in  the  presence  of  the  Infinite  Perfection, 
and  patiently  await  the  hour  when  God  will 
justify  Himself  to  His  creatures,  and  show  them 
tliat  they  never  erred  in  calling  Him  their 
Father. 

It  is  true  that,  to  hold  rational  communion 
with  God  in  Nature,  one  must  have  something 
of  "  the  vision  and  the  faculty  divine  "  of  which 
Wordsworth  speaks;  ))ut  it  is  equally  true  that, 
combined  with  this''  vision  "and  "faculty,"  there 
must  be  the  spiritual  perception  of  him  who  has 
been  "  born  from  above."  Had  it  not  been  for 
such  perception,  which  marks  the  difference  be- 
tween the  Excursion  and  Queen  Mah^  Words- 
worth would  not  have  been  a  better  interpreter 


THE   BIRTH   FROM  ABOVE.  91 

of  Nature  than  Shelley,  and  hence  could  never 
have  witten  lines  like  these  :  — 

..."  I  have  felt 
A  presence  that  disturbs  me  with  the  joy 
Of  elevated  thoughts  ;  a  sense  sublime 
Of  something  far  more  deeply  interfused, 
Whose  dwelling  is  the  light  of  setting  suns, 
And  the  round  ocean  and  the  living  air, 
And  the  blue  sky,  and  in  the  mind  of  man  ; 
A  motion  and  a  spirit,  that  impels 
All  thinking  things,  all  objects  of  all  thought. 
And  rolls  through  all  things.     Therefore  am  I  still 
A  lover  of  the  meadows  and  the  woods, 
And  mountains,  and  of  all  that  we  behold 
From  this  green  earth ;  of  all  the  mighty  world 
Of  eye  and  ear,  —  both  what  they  half  create, 
And  what  perceive ;  well  pleased  to  recognize 
In  nature  and  the  language  of  the  sense 
The  anchor  of  my  purest  thoughts,  the  nurse. 
The  guide,  the  guardian  of  my  heart,  and  soul 
Of  all  my  moral  being."  ^ 

The  closing  words  of  the  late  Canon  Mozley's 
remarkable  sermon  on  Nature  may  be  appropri- 
ately quoted  in  connection  with  these  immortal 
lines.  Having  spoken  of  "  the  great  atheistic 
poets,"  and  shown  how  idolatry  of  the  outward 
world  ''  spoiled  these  men  for  the  inward,"  un- 
til "  in  anger  they  fell  back  upon  a  Manichean 

1  Tintern  Abbey. 


92  THE  BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

God,  who  was  lovely  in  nature  and  unjust  in 
man,"  this  writer  truly  says :  — 

"  When  men  have  started  from  outward  nature, 
when  they  have  used  it  as  a  foundation,  and  made  it 
their  first  stay,  its  glory  has  thus  issued  in  gloom  and 
despondency  ;  but  to  those  who  have  first  made  the 
knowledge  of  themselves  and  their  own  souls  their 
care,  it  has  ever  turned  to  light  and  hope.  They  have 
read  in  Nature  an  augury  and  a  presage  ;  they  have 
found  in  it  a  language  and  a  revelation  ;  and  they 
have  caught  in  it  signs  and  intimations  of  Him  who 
has  clothed  Himself  with  it  as  with  a  garment,  who 
has  robed  Himself  with  its  honor  and  majesty,  has 
decked  Himself  with  its  light,  and  who  created  it  as 
an  expression  and  manifestation  of  Himself."  ^ 

(3)  Through  spiritual  perception  one  may 
also  find  a  revelation  of  God  in  History.  In  the 
careers  of  nations,  the  slow  but  steady  unfold- 
ings  of  humanity,  the  march  of  great  ideas,  and 
the  triumph  of  great  principles,  he  may  discern 
the  guiding  and  saving  Hand  of  the  omnipotent 
King  of  kings.  Instead  of  being  but  little  more 
than  the  record  of  brutal  and  destructive  wars, 
of  greedy  ambition  and  shameful  oppression,  of 
opposing  jealousies,  hatreds,  and  lusts,  together 
with  maddened  attempts  of  suffering  masses  to 

1  University  Sermons,  fourtli  ed.    N.  Y,    p  144. 


THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  93 

throw  off  galling  yokes  and  avenge  themselves 
upon  their  tormentors,  history  to  such  a  person, 
if  he  make  it  a  study,  will  proclaim  the  invisi- 
ble presence  of  God  with  men,  correcting  their 
mistakes,  bringing  their  foUies  to  naught,  caus- 
ing their  wrath  to  praise  Him,  supplementing 
the  endeavors  of  the  wise  and  the  righteous, 
and  thus  ever  leading  His  children  on  to  higher 
and  better  things.  Here,  then,  as  in  Nature, 
light  shines  out  of  darkness  and  beneficent  pur- 
pose is  seen.  Man  has  not  been  left  to  his  own 
devices,  is  not  the  sport  and  prey  of  blind  and 
merciless  Chance,  but  God's  own  child,  whom 
He  would  save  from  ignoi-ance  and  sin,  and 
crown  with  undying  favor. 

(4)  Once  more.  To  one  who  has  been  spirit- 
ually enlightened  through  having  been  "  born 
from  above,"  life  becomes  fuller  of  significance 
the  more  that  it  is  studied.  The  utility  of 
much  that  men  unavoidably  undergo  in  the 
journey  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  is  not 
perfectly  plain  to  him;  but  he  sees  enough  to 
convince  him  that  life,  as  far  as  its  divine  side 
is  concerned,  is  what  it  should  be,  and  is  fraught 
with  richest  purpose.  Thus  with  the  Apostle 
he  can  say,  "Though  our  outward  man  perish, 


94  THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

yet  the  inward  man  is  renewed  day  by  day. 
For  our  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  mo- 
ment, worketh  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory."  ^  Experiences  of  his 
own,  the  blessedness  of  which  he  once  could 
not  comprehend,  now  so  plainly  declare  the 
Divine  Wisdom,  that  he  rejoices  where  first  he 
could  only  sigh  or  weep  ;  and,  girded  with  new 
hope  and  courage,  he  runs  with  cheerful  pa- 
tience the  race  that  is  set  before  him !  ^ 

Such  are  the  privileges  of  the  life  "  from 
above  ;  "  and  he  that  enjoys  them  may,  like 
Israel  of  old,  be  called  a  prince  with  God.^ 
Higher  privileges  than  his  are  unknown  to 
earth;  for  higher  can  belong  onl}^  to  saints  in 
Paradise,  or  to  the  Angelic  company. 

XIV.  —  Growth  in  the  Life  from  Above. 

Merely  to  be  regenerated,  or  ''  born  from 
above,"  is  not  enough  ;  for,  as  we  have  else- 
where observed,  one's  regeneration  is  no  guar- 
antee that  he  will  remain  in  a  state  of  spiritual 
health  and  promise.  The  life  thus  conferred 
upon    him    must    be    carefully    nourished    and 

1  2  Cor.  iv.  16,  17.  2  Heb.  xii.  1. 

2  Gen  xxxij.  28. 


THE  BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  95 

tended,  or  he  will  not  grow  up  into  a  vigor- 
ous and  well-proportioned  Christian  manhood. 
Hence,  as  our  little  book  draws  nigh  its  close, 
we  are  reminded  of  the  necessity  of  saying  some- 
thing on  growth  in  the  life  "  from  above." 

To  "grow  in  grace,  and  in  the  knowledge  of 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,"  ^  as  an 
Apostle  phrases  it,  one's  inner  life  must  there- 
fore be  fed  and  educated.  For  instance,  he 
must  freely  avail  himself  of  the  instrumentali- 
ties provided  for  spiritual  nurture  in  the  rites 
and  ordinances  of  the  Church.  He  should  be 
a  regular  attendant  upon  Divine  service,  a 
thoughtful  listener  when  Holy  Scripture  is 
read,  and  an  habitual  and  reverent  student  of 
it.  He  should  frequently  present  himself  at 
Holy  Communion,  and  gratefully  partake  of 
the  meat  and  drink  there  spread  before  him 
in  the  name  of  Redeeming  Love.  So,  too,  he 
should  engage  in  domestic  devotions,  He 
should  not  think  that  he  can  discharge  all  his 
religious  duties  by  appearing  in  the  House  of 
Prayer  on  stated  occasions,  and  remaining  si- 
lent before  God  at  other  times.  If  there  be  a 
family  altar  beneath  the  roof  that  shelters  him, 
1  2  Pet.  iii.  18. 


96  THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE. 

— and  what  home  can  afford  to  be  without  one? 
—  he  should  daily  worship  at  that  altar,  and  thus 
prepare  himself  for  any  trial  of  his  faith  or  man- 
hood that  may  be  at  hand.  And,  furthermore, 
he  should  have  his  seasons  of  private  worship. 
Wherever  he  may  chance  to  be, — in  the  soli- 
tude of  his  chamber,  or  in  the  very  thick-  of 
the  world's  affairs,  —  he  should  often  turn  to 
the  "  Father  of  Lights  "  to  laud  His  number- 
less mercies,  and  beseech  anew  His  guidance. 
A  practice  like  this,  when  engaged  in,  not  per- 
functorily, but  with  true  devoutness,  cannot  do 
otherwise  than  develop  spiritual  life,  and  impart 
to  it  individuality  and  tone. 

Much  to  be  commended,  it  may  here  be  ob- 
served, is  the  habit  of  quietly  meditating  on 
Divine  themes,  such  as  the  wisdom,  power,  and 
goodness  of  God,  His  glory  in  the  heavens  and 
the  earth,  and  His  unerring  providence,  both  as 
regard*  the  race  at  large  and  one's  own  self. 
Especially  should  the  life  and  character  of  Him 
in  whom  God  so  adorably  reveals  Himself  be 
raptly  dwelt  upon.  To  think  of  Christ  as  He 
is  portrayed  in  the  Gospel  biographies,  admir- 
ing His  matchless  excellencies,  and  trying  to 
love   what   He  loves,  is  sure  to   make   us  more 


THE  BIliTH  FROM   ABOVE.  97 

like  Him,  and  thus  to  speed  the  accomplishment 
of  His  good  work  in  us.  As  "  the  Way,  the 
Truth,  and  the  Life,"  by  other  than  whom  *'no 
man  cometh  unto  the  Father,"  ^  He  sets  a  pat- 
tern for  our  imitation,  daily  contemplating  the 
incomparable  beauty  of  which  we  may  hope  to 
come  at  last,  "  in  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of 
the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  per- 
fect man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of 
the  fulness  of  Christ."  ^ 

Much  to  be  commended,  also,  is  the  frequent 
and  intelligent  use  of  devotional  works  that 
guide  the  thoughts  of  the  spiritually  minded, 
and  enable  them  to  find  utterance  for  much  that 
they  feel,  and  yet  cannot  always  satisfactorily 
express.  Books  such  as  the  "  Imitation  of 
Christ,"  or  Jeremy  Taylor's  "Holy  Living," 
and  "  Holy  Dying,"  even  though  one  be  not 
altogether  in  doctrinal  sympathy  with  them, 
may  be  of  immense  benefit  in  spiritual  culture; 
supplying  as  they  do  the  food  on  which  multi- 
tudes have  been  generously  nourished,  and  af- 
fording additional  evidence  of  the  ability  of  the 
Christian  Revelation  to  do  for  man  what  he  can- 
not do  for  himself. 

1  John  xiv.  6.  2  Eph.  iv.  13. 


98  THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

But  to  '*gro\v  in  grace,"  hand  in  hand  with 
piety  of  thought  and  observance  must  go  practi- 
cal piety  of  life.  The  truths  and  precepts  of 
the  Gospel  must  be  applied  to  every-day  affairs. 
Not  only  must  one  feel  that  he  should  love  his 
brother,  but  he  must  love  him,  and  do  the  works 
of  love.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  they  who 
are  the  most  generous  and  sympathetic,  who  are 
most  helpful  to  others,  and  who  take  the  greatest 
interest  in  philanthropic  undertakings,  are,  for 
the  most  part,  men  and  women  who  both  possess 
and,  in  largest  measure,  enjoy  the  life  that  is 
*'  from  above."  That  life  broadens  and  deepens 
through  glad  compliance  with  the  Saviour's 
gentle  commands.  The  more  that  the  happiness 
of  others  is  taken  into  its  account,  the  more  its 
own  happiness  increases.  The  more  that  it 
touches  the  inner  lives  of  others,  and  lives  with 
and  for  them,  the  more  its  sources  of  supply  are 
multiplied.  It  is  like  a  river  that,  fed  by  an 
unfailing  fountain-head,  receives,  in  the  course 
of  its  seaward  journey,  the  waters  of  an  hundred 
tributary  streams.  Promising  as  it  is  to-day,  it 
will  be  more  promising  to-morrow,  and  the  more 
that  it  develops,  the  more  it  resembles  that  Per- 
fect Life  which  is  the  "  Light  of  Men."  i 

^  John  i.  4. 


THE  BIRTH   FROM  ABOVE.  99 

Thus  a  man  is  "  born  from  above  "  that  the 
new  life  with  which  he  is  endowed  may  steadily 
unfold  its  powers.  That  life  does  not  at  once 
attain  unto  its  fullest  possible  proportions. 
Saintliness  is  not  an  instantaneous  gift,  but  the 
result  of  orderly  processes.^  Again  do  we  say 
that,  like  physical  life,  spiritual  life  must  be 
nourished  and  trained.  It  cannot  grow  without 
food  nor  thrive  without  exercise.  Dangers  ever 
beset  it,  and  it  is  only  by  watchfulness  and 
culture  that  it  can  become  "  like  a  tree  planted 
by  the  rivers  of  water,  that  bringeth  forth  his 
fruit  in  his  season." - 

Conclusion". 

Much  more  might  be  said  of  the  life  "  from 
above,"    and  of  the   truths   and  duties    that   it 

1  "  A  man  cannot,  after  a  state  of  sin,  be  instantly  a  saint ; 
the  work  of  heaven  is  not  done  by  a  flash  of  lightning,  or  a 
dash  of  affectionate  rain,  or  a  few  tears  of  relenting  pity. 
Remember  that  God  sent  you  into  the  world  for  religion  ;  we 
are  but  to  pass  through  our  pleasant  fields  or  our  hard  labors, 
but  to  lodge  a  little  while  in  our  fair  palaces  or  our  meaner  cot- 
tages, but  to  bait  in  the  way  at  our  full  tables  or  with  our  spare 
diet ;  but  then  only  man  does  his  proper  employment  when  he 
prays,  and  does  charity,  and  mortifies  his  unruly  appetites,  and 
restrains  his  violent  passions,  and  becomes  like  to  God,  and 
imitates  his  holy  Son,  and  writes  after  the  copies  of  apostles 
and  saints."  —  Jeremy  Taylor.  2  pg^.  i,  3. 


100  THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

involves  ;  but  our  limits  forbid.  Invoking,  then, 
the  blessing  of  God  upon  these  pages,  and  pray- 
ing that  any  errors  they  may  contain  may  at 
once  be  rendered  nugatory  by  that  Spirit  with- 
out whose  aid  man's  best  efforts  would  prove 
unavailing,  we  conclude  with  a  few  thoughts 
that  at  this  time  particularly  entreat  our 
attention. 

The  life  "  from  above  "  is  the  only  life  that 
can  forever  satisfy  beings  who  have  been  created 
in  the  image  of  their  Maker,  and  endowed  with 
immortality.  "  It  is  the  true  life  of  humanity, 
the  life  that  it  has  in  the  Christ,  —  the  real 
head  of  the  human  race  ;  the  first  Adam  is  of 
the  earth  earth?/  :  the  second  Adam  is  the  Lord 
from  heaven.''  ^  Neither  life  in  the  body  nor 
life  in  the  soul,  as  the  seat  of  consciousness  and 
reason,  is  an  end  in  itself.  It  was  for  life  in  the 
spirit,  or  eternal  life,  that  we  were  called  into 
existence,  that  we  might  know  God  and  love 
Him,  and  loving  Him,  serve  Him  forever.  As 
long,  then,  as  one  fails  to  appreciate  this  truth, 
so  long  does  he  miss  the  primal  purpose  of  his 
creation,  and  live  as  it  were  in  the  ante-room 
of  his  Father's  house,  instead  of  passing  within 
1  Mulford,  "  Republic  of  God,"  p.  235. 


THE   BIRTH   FROM   ABOVE.  101 

to  tal£e  up  his  abode  in  the  fair  chambers  pre- 
pared for  him  from  the  beginning.  Life  in  the 
senses  may  please  him  for  a  time,  and  much 
more,  for  a  time,  may  he  find  pleasure  in  a  life 
that  is  largely  intellectual;  but  these  modes  of 
life  do  not  contain  within  themselves  the  springs 
of  abiding  peace  and  joy.  The  one  grows  weari- 
some at  last,  until  it  may  breed  unutterable 
loathing  ;  while  the  other,  baffled  in  its  en- 
deavors to  pierce  the  mysteries  of  the  universe, 
unless  it  submit  to  be  guided  by  a  wisdom  that 
is  not  born  of  earth,  falls  a  prey  to  restlessness 
and  doubt,  if  not  to  deep  despair.  It  is  only  of 
the  life  "  fiom  above"  that  mau  can  never  tire. 
For  this  life  he  was  made,  and  apart  from  it  he 
can  never  know  true  freedom  and  happiness. 

Nor  should  we  fail  duly  to  value  the  thought 
that  in  the  life  ''  from  above "  we  have  the 
"  potency  and  promise  "  of  heavenly  activity, 
knowledge,  and  joy.  It  is  a  verification  of  the 
truth  of  our  dear  Lord's  saying,  "  He  that 
heareth  my  word,  and  believeth  on  Him  that 
sent  me,  hath  everlasting  life,  and  shall  not 
come  into  condemnation,  but  is  passed  from 
death  unto  life,"  ^  and  likewise  an  assurance  that, 

1  John  V.  24. 


102  THE   BIRTH  FROM   ABOVE. 

though  we  are  still  pilgrims  on  earth,  something 
of  the  bliss  of  departed  saints  is  already  ours. 
And  feeling  that  immortality  in  the  higher 
sense  is  a  present  possession,  and  that  we  have 
an  earnest  of  heavenly  blessings,  we  are  further 
made  to  feel  that  nothing  but  the  necessary 
limitations  of  the  present  prevents  us  from  re- 
joicing in  spiritual  sights  and  sounds,  which, 
could  we  see  and  hear  as  do  they  who  have 
gone  before  us  into  glory,  would  ravish  us  with 
ecstasy.  Speaking  of  the  organs  of  physical 
sense,  a  scientist  has  recently  said  that  ''  there 
ma}^  be  fifty  other  senses  as  different  from  ours 
as  soiuid  is  from  sight,"  and  that  ''  even  within 
the  boundaries  of  our  own  senses  there  may  be 
endless  sounds  which  we  cannot  hear,  and  colors 
as  different  as  red  from  green,  of  which  we  have 
no  conception."  Hence  he  argues  that  *'  the 
familiar  world  which  surrounds  us  may  be  a 
totally  different  place  "  to  the  members  of  the 
animal  kingdom.  "To  them,"  he  continues, 
''  it  may  be  full  of  music  which  we  cannot  hear, 
of  color  which  we  cannot  see,  of  sensations  of 
which  we  cannot  conceive."  ^  Very  much  so, 
we  think,  it  must  be  with  that  other  world 
1  Lubbock,  "  Popular  Science  Montlily." 


THE   BIRTH  FROM  ABOVE.  103 

which  environs  us,  and  to  which  the  imperish- 
able part  of  us  belongs.  What  we  now  behold 
and  hear  by  means  of  our  spiritual  faculties  is 
prophetic  of  the  surprises  that  will  burst  upon 
us,  when  we  shall  be  wholly  '*  delivered  from 
the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the  glorious 
liberty  of  the  children  of  God."  i  All  around 
us  smiles  an  incorporeal  beauty  the  like  of  which 
we  have  never  seen  ;  and  all  around  us  breathes 
a  richer  moral  music  than  has  ever  swept  the 
chords  of  our  inner  being.  With  reason  may 
we  boast  that  we  have  only  begun  to  taste  "  the 
goodness  of  the  Lord  "  in  the  true  ^'  land  of  the 
living."  2  The  best  of  everything  that  enlight- 
ened creatures  can  desire  is  still  before  us ;  and 
the  devout  imagination  can  never  lack  for  food 
upon  which  to  feed  its  hunger. 

''  If  we  live  in  the  Spirit,  let  us  also  walk  in 
the  Spirit."  ^  Realizing  who  we  are,  how  royally 
we  have  been  favored,  and  how  grand  a  future 
is  beckoning  to  us  from  af[\r,  let  us  strive,  with 
the  help  of  Heaven,  to  grow  in  the  life  "from 
above,"  ever  "looking  unto  Jesus  the  Author 
and  Finisher  of  our  faith,  who  for  the  joy  that 
was  set  before  Him  endured  the  cross,  despising 

^  Rom.  viii.  21.  2  Pg^.  xxvii.  1.3.  3  Gal.  v.  25. 


101  THE   BIKTH   FROM  ABOVE. 

the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the  right  hand  of 
the  throne  of  God."  * 

The  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  love  of  god,  and  the  communion 
OF  THE  Holy  Spirit  be  with  us  all, 
EVERMORE.     Amen. 

1  Heb.  xii.  2. 


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